Effects of sinusoidal electromagnetic fields on histopathology and structures of brains of preincubated white Leghorn chicken embryos.
Lahijani MS, Bigdeli MR, Kalantary S. · 2011
View Original AbstractMagnetic fields at household appliance levels caused brain damage in developing chicken embryos, highlighting developmental vulnerability to EMF exposure.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed chicken embryos to magnetic fields similar to power lines before incubation and studied their brain development for 14 days. The exposed embryos showed significant brain damage including increased cell death and tissue breakdown compared to unexposed controls. This suggests that magnetic field exposure during critical development periods can harm the developing nervous system.
Why This Matters
This study adds to mounting evidence that EMF exposure during development poses serious risks to the nervous system. The magnetic field strengths used (1.33 to 7.32 mT) are actually lower than what you might encounter near some household appliances or power transformers, yet still caused measurable brain damage in developing embryos. What makes this research particularly concerning is the timing of exposure during critical developmental windows when the nervous system is most vulnerable. The science demonstrates that even brief EMF exposure before development begins can trigger lasting damage including increased cell death and tissue degeneration. While we can't directly extrapolate from chicken embryos to humans, this research reinforces why pregnant women should minimize EMF exposure, especially from high-magnetic-field sources like certain appliances and electrical installations.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 1.33, 2.66, and 7.32 mG
- Source/Device
- 50–60 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 14 days
Exposure Context
This study used 1.33, 2.66, and 7.32 mG for magnetic fields:
- 66.5Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 13.3Kx 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
Effects of sinusoidal electromagnetic fields on histopathology and structures of brains of preincubated white leghorn hen eggs were investigated.
Three hundred healthy fresh fertilized eggs (55–65 gr) were divided into three groups of experimenta...
Results showed electromagnetic fields have toxic effects on brain cells by increasing the number of ...
These findings suggest that the electromagnetic fields induce brain damages at different levels.
Show BibTeX
@article{ms_2011_effects_of_sinusoidal_electromagnetic_669,
author = {Lahijani MS and Bigdeli MR and Kalantary S.},
title = {Effects of sinusoidal electromagnetic fields on histopathology and structures of brains of preincubated white Leghorn chicken embryos.},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.3109/15368378.2011.596250},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/15368378.2011.596250},
}