Stress-related endocrinological and psychopathological effects of short- and long-term 50 Hz electromagnetic field exposure in rats
Szemerszky R, Zelena D, Barna I, Bárdos G. · 2010
View Original AbstractLong-term 50 Hz EMF exposure in rats was associated with elevated proopiomelanocortin, depressive-like behavior, and higher blood glucose, while short-term exposure produced no such effects.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed adult male Sprague-Dawley rats to 50 Hz electromagnetic fields at 0.5 mT, either for 5 days at 8 hours daily or for 4 to 6 weeks at 24 hours daily. Neither exposure duration produced the body changes associated with chronic stress, such as body weight reduction, thymus involution, or adrenal gland hypertrophy. After long-term exposure, rats showed elevated proopiomelanocortin and depressive-like behavior, and blood glucose was also higher. The researchers noted that the exposure intensity used was much higher than typical human exposure.
Why This Matters
The study focused on whether 50 Hz electromagnetic field exposure could trigger chronic stress or stress-related psychopathology in rats. Anxiety was examined using an elevated plus maze test, and depressive-like behavior in the long-term group was assessed with a forced swim test. After behavioral testing, organ weights, blood hormone levels, and proopiomelanocortin mRNA from the pituitary gland were measured. The hormonal stress reaction was similar in control and short-term exposed rats, but differed after long-term exposure. The researchers suggested that long and continuous exposure to relatively high intensity electromagnetic field may count as a mild stress situation and could be a factor in the development of depressive state or metabolic disturbances.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.5 mT
- Source/Device
- 50-Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 5 days, 8 h daily (short) or for 4–6 weeks, 24 h daily (long)
Exposure Context
This study used 0.5 mT for magnetic fields:
- 25Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 5Kx 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 aim of the present work was to study the long-term consequences of 50 Hz electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) exposure with special focus on the development of chronic stress and stress-induced psychopathology.
Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were exposed to ELF-EMF (50 Hz, 0.5 mT) for 5 days, 8 h daily (short)...
Both treatments were ineffective on somatic parameters, namely none of the changes characteristic to...
Show BibTeX
@article{r_2010_stressrelated_endocrinological_and_psychopathological_305,
author = {Szemerszky R and Zelena D and Barna I and Bárdos G. },
title = {Stress-related endocrinological and psychopathological effects of short- and long-term 50 Hz electromagnetic field exposure in rats},
year = {2010},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0361923009003438},
}