Note: This study found no significant biological effects under its experimental conditions. We include all studies for scientific completeness.
Assessment of the neurotoxic potential of exposure to 50 Hz extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) in naïve and chemically stressed PC12 cells
de Groot MW, Kock MD, Westerink RH. · 2014
View Original AbstractExposure to 50 Hz ELF-EMF up to 1000 μT did not induce neurotoxic effects in naïve or chemically stressed PC12 cells.
Plain English Summary
Researchers investigated acute (30 min) and sub-chronic (48 h) exposure to 50 Hz ELF-EMF on naïve and chemically stressed PC12 cells. Acute exposure up to 1000 μT did not affect basal or depolarization-evoked calcium levels in naïve cells. Sub-chronic exposure up to 1000 μT had no consistent effects on calcium homeostasis, ROS production, or membrane integrity in naïve cells. In chemically stressed cells, both acute and sub-chronic exposure also failed to exert consistent effects on calcium homeostasis, ROS production, and membrane integrity. The authors concluded that exposure up to 1000 μT does not induce neurotoxic effects in vitro in either cell type.
Why This Matters
The authors noted that their data require confirmation in developing neuronal cells or animals. They suggested that the neurotoxic risk of ELF-EMF exposure appears limited. Calcium homeostasis was measured with Fura-2 single cell fluorescence microscopy, ROS production with H2-DCFDA, and membrane integrity with CFDA assays. Chemically stressed cells have higher iron and ROS levels and increased vulnerability to environmental insults.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 1 mT
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 30 min and 48 h
Exposure Context
This study used 1 mT for magnetic fields:
- 50Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 10Kx 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
We investigated effects of acute (30 min) and sub-chronic (48 h) exposure to 50 Hz ELF-EMF on naïve and chemically stressed pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells.
The latter have higher levels of iron and/or reactive oxygen species (ROS) and display increased vu...
Our data demonstrate that acute exposure of naïve PC12 cells to 50 Hz ELF-EMF up to 1000 μT fails to...
Though our data require confirmation, e.g. in developing neuronal cells in vitro or (developing) animals, it appears that the neurotoxic risk of ELF-EMF exposure is limited.
Show BibTeX
@article{mw_2014_assessment_of_the_neurotoxic_2825,
author = {de Groot MW and Kock MD and Westerink RH. },
title = {Assessment of the neurotoxic potential of exposure to 50 Hz extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) in naïve and chemically stressed PC12 cells},
year = {2014},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0161813X14001387},
}