Exposure to 1.8 GHz electromagnetic fields affects morphology, DNA-related Raman spectra and mitochondrial functions in human lympho-monocytes.
Lasalvia M, Scrima R, Perna G, Piccoli C, Capitanio N, et al. · 2018
View Original AbstractExposure to 1.8 GHz electromagnetic fields produced morphological, DNA-related, and mitochondrial changes in human lympho-monocytes.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed human peripheral blood lympho-monocytes in a reverberation chamber to 1.8 GHz electromagnetic fields at 200 V/m for times ranging from 1 to 20 hours. Some exposed cells took on an enlarged and deformed shape, and Raman spectra of the nuclear compartment showed reductions in DNA backbone-linked vibrational modes. After 20 hours of exposure, resting oxygen consumption rate increased and was coupled to a significant increase of the FoF1-ATP synthase-related oxygen consumption. The researchers suggested that adaptive mechanisms, likely via redox signaling, may compensate for early impairments of the oxidative phosphorylation system caused by EMF exposure.
Why This Matters
At shorter exposure intervals of 5 and 12 hours, a large increase of proton leak-related respiration was observed, but this recovered to control levels after 20 hours of exposure. Confocal microscopy supported the respiratory activity findings, while no significant variations in mitochondrial mass or morphology were observed in exposed lympho-monocytes. Altered redox homeostasis was found in exposed lympho-monocytes and progressed differently in nucleated cellular subsets. The authors noted that further studies are required to identify which leukocyte cellular subsets are selectively targeted by EMF action and the mechanisms by which this occurs.
Exposure Details
- Electric Field
- 200 V/m
- Source/Device
- 1.8 GHz
- Exposure Duration
- 1 to 20 hours
Exposure Context
This study used 200 V/m for electric fields:
- 666.7x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.3 V/m
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.
Study Details
The aim of this study is to investigate Exposure to 1.8 GHz electromagnetic fields affects morphology, DNA-related Raman spectra and mitochondrial functions in human lympho-monocytes.
In this study, the occurrence of biochemical/biological modifications in human peripheral blood lymp...
Morphological analysis of adherent cells unveiled, in some of these, appearance of an enlarged and d...
This results suggest the occurrence of adaptive mechanisms put in action, likely via redox signaling, to compensate for early impairments of the oxidative phosphorylation system caused by exposure to EMFs. Overall the data presented warn for health safety of people involved in long-term exposure to electromagnetic fields, although further studies are required to pinpoint the leukocyte cellular subset(s) selectively targeted by the EMFs action and the mechanisms by which it is achieved.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2018_exposure_to_18_ghz_1070,
author = {Lasalvia M and Scrima R and Perna G and Piccoli C and Capitanio N and et al.},
title = {Exposure to 1.8 GHz electromagnetic fields affects morphology, DNA-related Raman spectra and mitochondrial functions in human lympho-monocytes.},
year = {2018},
url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0192894&billing_country=US},
}