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Cellular Effects

Direction-dependent effects of combined static and ELF magnetic fields on cell proliferation and superoxide radical production.

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Naarala J, Kesari KK, McClure I, Chavarriaga C, Juutilainen J, Martino CF · 2017

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The effect of a weak ELF magnetic field on cells depended on whether it was oriented horizontally or vertically relative to a static magnetic field.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers studied how the direction of combined static and extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields affected cell proliferation and superoxide radical production. Proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells was stimulated by a nearly vertical 60 or 120 μT static magnetic field compared with cells that were shielded against magnetic fields. When the static field was combined with an extremely low frequency ELF field, proliferation was suppressed by a horizontal but not by a vertical ELF field.

Why This Matters

Independent experiments were carried out to confirm the direction dependence using 50 Hz fields and a different experimental model. The researchers suggest that a weak ELF magnetic field may interact with the static geomagnetic field to produce biological effects. The effect depends on the relative directions of the static and ELF fields.

Exposure Details

Magnetic Field
0.03 and 0.033 mT
Source/Device
50 Hz
Exposure Duration
24 hours

Exposure Context

This study used 0.03 and 0.033 mT for magnetic fields:

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 Exposure Level in ContextStudy Exposure Level in ContextThis study: 0.03 and 0.033 mTExtreme Concern - 5 mGFCC Limit - 2,000 mGEffects observed in the Extreme Concern range (Building Biology)FCC limit is 7 times higher than this level
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 50 Hz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 50 HzCell phones~1 GHzWiFi2.4 GHz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Study Details

To investigate the Direction-dependent effects of combined static and ELF magnetic fields on cell proliferation and superoxide radical production.

Proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells was stimulated by a nearly vertical 60 or 12...

The results suggest that a weak ELF MF may interact with the static geomagnetic field in producing biological effects, but the effect depends on the relative directions of the static and ELF MFs.

Cite This Study
Naarala J, Kesari KK, McClure I, Chavarriaga C, Juutilainen J, Martino CF (2017). Direction-dependent effects of combined static and ELF magnetic fields on cell proliferation and superoxide radical production. Biomed Res Int. 2017:5675086, 2017.
Show BibTeX
@article{j_2017_directiondependent_effects_of_combined_432,
  author = {Naarala J and Kesari KK and McClure I and Chavarriaga C and Juutilainen J and Martino CF},
  title = {Direction-dependent effects of combined static and ELF magnetic fields on cell proliferation and superoxide radical production.},
  year = {2017},
  
  url = {https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2017/5675086/},
}

Quick Questions About This Study

The study used human umbilical vein endothelial cells and rat glioma C6 cells.
Proliferation was suppressed by a horizontal but not by a vertical ELF field when combined with the static field.
The results suggest that a weak ELF magnetic field may interact with the static geomagnetic field in producing biological effects, but the effect depends on the relative directions of the static and ELF fields.
Proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells was stimulated by a nearly vertical 60 or 120 μT static magnetic field compared with shielded cells.