6,486 Studies Reviewed. 85.2% of Original Studies Found Biological Effects. The Evidence is Clear.
Shield Your Body
Whole Body / GeneralPart of the Glaser Archive

LOCAL EFFECTS OF MICROWAVE RADIATION ON TISSUES IN THE ALBINO RAT

Bioeffects Seen

Leonard Essman, Charles S. Wise · 1950

Share:

1950 research found that microwave exposure produced deep tissue lesions in rats only when the overlying skin showed gross thermal injury.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

This 1950 study exposed the lower back area of white rats to microwave radiation to investigate whether deep muscle tissue could be damaged without visible injury to the overlying skin. Researchers compared microwave thermal effects to infrared radiation effects, focusing specifically on muscle changes rather than bone damage.

Why This Matters

This early research looked at whether microwave radiation could injure deep tissue while leaving the overlying skin unharmed, and the answer in these rats was no. In animals receiving minimal thermal burns, with final skin temperatures of 44 to 50 C, there was no gross or microscopic evidence of deep tissue or subcutaneous changes over three weeks or longer. The authors described this as the interesting and important negative finding.

Where thermal injury was produced with microwave radiation, the lesion appeared to extend further into the underlying tissues than with infrared radiation. The authors stress that, given the difficulty of obtaining accurate dosage with microwaves, this could not be evaluated statistically or quantitatively, particularly in a small experimental animal.

Figures from the Original Paper

Diagrams extracted from the original research document.

diagramPage 3 - Representative thermal lesions immediately following microwave irradiation as shown in Figure 1.
p. 3 of the original PDF
diagramPage 4 - AI-described figure: Microscopic sections showing thermal lesions one week after microwave and infrared irradiation.
p. 4 of the original PDF
Cite This Study
Leonard Essman, Charles S. Wise (1950). LOCAL EFFECTS OF MICROWAVE RADIATION ON TISSUES IN THE ALBINO RAT.
Show BibTeX
@article{local_effects_of_microwave_radiation_on_tissues_in_the_albino_rat_g3889,
  author = {Leonard Essman and Charles S. Wise},
  title = {LOCAL EFFECTS OF MICROWAVE RADIATION ON TISSUES IN THE ALBINO RAT},
  year = {1950},
  
  
}
No DOI on file for this study.

Quick Questions About This Study

No, in this study it was not possible to produce deep tissue damage in the absence of significant gross evidence of thermal injury to the overlying skin. Animals with minimal thermal burns showed no deep tissue changes over three weeks or longer.
Scientists exposed white albino rats to both microwave and infrared radiation in the lumbar area, then compared the thermal effects both visually and through microscopic tissue analysis to understand differences in damage patterns.
The study focused on the lumbar area (lower back region) of white albino rats, specifically examining underlying muscle tissue changes rather than bone effects that previous researchers had studied.
Yes, this work extended previous studies by Wise, Watkins and Castleman who had documented unusual bone absorption and tissue changes from microwave radiation in growing rats, prompting focus on muscle effects.
Earlier studies by Wise, Watkins and Castleman had described unusual effects of thermal injuries characterized by extensive bone absorption and deep tissue changes. In this study, where thermal injury was produced with microwave radiation, the lesion appeared to extend further into the underlying tissues than with infrared radiation, though this could not be quantitatively evaluated.