Effects of prenatal exposure to a 50-Hz magnetic field on one-trial passive avoidance learning in 1-day-old chicks.
Sun H, Che Y, Liu X, Zhou D, Miao Y, Ma Y. · 2010
View Original AbstractMagnetic field exposure during development impaired memory formation in stressed chicks, suggesting EMF may increase brain vulnerability.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed chick embryos to 50-Hz magnetic fields (the type from power lines) during development and tested their memory after hatching. Chicks exposed to magnetic fields showed impaired memory formation, but only when they were stressed during testing. This suggests that electromagnetic field exposure during development may make the brain more vulnerable to memory problems under stressful conditions.
Why This Matters
This study adds to growing evidence that electromagnetic field exposure during critical developmental windows can have lasting neurological effects. The 2 mT magnetic field used here is significantly stronger than typical household exposures (usually measured in microtesla), but the finding that effects only appeared under stress conditions is particularly concerning. It suggests that EMF exposure may not cause obvious problems under normal circumstances, but could make the developing brain more vulnerable when faced with additional challenges. What makes this research especially relevant is that it examines effects during embryonic development, when the nervous system is most susceptible to environmental influences. The reality is that we're conducting a massive experiment on developing brains with our increasingly electromagnetic environment, and studies like this suggest we should proceed with more caution.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 2 mG
- Source/Device
- 50-Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 60 min/day on embryonic days 12–18
Exposure Context
This study used 2 mG for magnetic fields:
- 100Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 20Kx above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 1 mG
Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
We investigated memory impairment in newly hatched chicks following in ovo exposure to a 50‐Hz magnetic field (MF) of 2 mT (60 min/day) on embryonic days 12–18.
Isolated and paired chicks were used to test the effect of stress during training, and memory retent...
Results showed that memory was intact at 10 min in both isolated and paired chicks with or without M...
Show BibTeX
@article{h_2010_effects_of_prenatal_exposure_304,
author = {Sun H and Che Y and Liu X and Zhou D and Miao Y and Ma Y.},
title = {Effects of prenatal exposure to a 50-Hz magnetic field on one-trial passive avoidance learning in 1-day-old chicks.},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1002/bem.20540},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bem.20540},
}