Intermittent extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields cause DNA damage in a dose-dependent way
Authors not listed · 2003
Intermittent ELF-EMF exposure induced dose-dependent DNA single-strand and double-strand breaks in cultured human diploid fibroblasts at flux densities as low as 35 mu T, below ICNIRP guidelines.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed cultured human diploid fibroblasts to intermittent ELF electromagnetic fields. DNA damage was measured using alkaline and neutral comet assays. Exposure at 50 Hz sinusoidal, 1-24 h, 20-1,000 mu T, with a 5 min on/10 min off pattern induced dose-dependent and time-dependent DNA single-strand and double-strand breaks. Effects were observed at magnetic flux densities as low as 35 mu T, well below ICNIRP guidelines. The induced comet tail factors returned to normal within 9 h after exposure ended.
Why This Matters
The study's title states that intermittent extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields cause DNA damage in a dose-dependent way. The researchers concluded that the induced DNA damage is not based on thermal effects and raises concern about environmental threshold limit values for ELF exposure.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Show BibTeX
@article{intermittent_extremely_low_frequency_electromagnetic_fields_cause_dna_damage_in_a_dose_dependent_way_ce1497,
author = {Unknown},
title = {Intermittent extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields cause DNA damage in a dose-dependent way},
year = {2003},
doi = {10.1007/S00420-003-0446-5},
}