Effects of exposure to static magnetic field on motor skills and iron levels in plasma and brain of rats.
Elferchichi M, Ammari M, Maaroufi K, Sakly M, Abdelmelek H. · 2011
View Original AbstractStatic magnetic fields at 128 millitesla disrupted iron metabolism in rat blood by 16-25%, even without causing obvious behavioral changes.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to magnetic fields daily for five days. While motor skills remained normal, blood iron processing changed significantly - the iron-carrying protein increased 25% while actual iron levels dropped 16%. This shows magnetic fields can disrupt how bodies handle essential minerals.
Why This Matters
This study reveals an important biological response that most people never consider: magnetic fields can interfere with iron metabolism in your blood. The 128 millitesla exposure used here is roughly 2,500 times stronger than Earth's natural magnetic field, comparable to what you might encounter very close to powerful magnets in medical equipment or industrial settings. What makes this research significant is that it demonstrates measurable biological changes from magnetic field exposure even when there are no obvious behavioral symptoms. The rats showed normal motor function, yet their bodies were clearly responding to the magnetic exposure at the cellular level. This fits a broader pattern in EMF research where biological effects occur well before obvious health symptoms appear. The fact that iron metabolism was disrupted suggests these fields may interfere with other essential biological processes we haven't yet studied.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 128 mG
- Exposure Duration
- 1 hour per day for 5 consecutive days
Exposure Context
This study used 128 mG for magnetic fields:
- 6.4Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 1.3Mx 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
The present work investigated the behavioural and biochemistry effects of moderate exposure to a static magnetic field (SMF) in rats. SMF effects were evaluated in sham- and SMF-exposed rats.
Adult Wistar rats were exposed for 1 hour per day for 5 consecutive days to 128 millitesla (mT) SMF....
No significant change was observed between sham and SMF-exposed rats in the Stationary beam and Susp...
The findings indicate that SMF exposure induced iron deficiency in plasma but did not induce motor-skills deficit.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2011_effects_of_exposure_to_639,
author = {Elferchichi M and Ammari M and Maaroufi K and Sakly M and Abdelmelek H.},
title = {Effects of exposure to static magnetic field on motor skills and iron levels in plasma and brain of rats.},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.3109/02699052.2011.581640},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/02699052.2011.581640},
}