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Effects of extremely low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields on morphological and biochemical properties of human breast carcinoma cells (T47D).

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Sadeghipour R, Ahmadian S, Bolouri B, Pazhang Y, Shafiezadeh M · 2012

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Exposure to extremely low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields increased actin levels and ROS generation in human breast carcinoma cells, but signs of apoptosis were not observed.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers investigated the effects of 100 and 217 Hz extremely low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields on cell proliferation, actin reorganization, and ROS generation in human breast carcinoma cells (T47D). Cells were exposed for 24-72 h, at 100 and 217 Hz, 0.1 mT. The treatment induced a time dependent decrease in cell growth after 72 h and revealed an increase in fluorescence intensity in cytoplasm and actin aggregations around the nucleus as detected by fluorescence microscopy. Exposure to 217 Hz for 72 hours caused a dramatic increase in intracellular ROS generation, while exposure to 100 Hz left ROS nearly unchanged.

Why This Matters

The study examined T47D human breast carcinoma cells exposed to pulsed electromagnetic fields at 100 Hz and 217 Hz, at an intensity of 0.1 mT. The amount of actin in T47D cells increased after 48 h exposure to 100 Hz and 24 h to 217 Hz while no changes in nuclear morphology were detected. Despite a dramatic increase in ROS generation and changes in actin, symptoms of apoptosis were not observed. The researchers suggest that cell responses to electromagnetic fields may only appear at certain frequency and intensity windows.

Exposure Details

Magnetic Field
0.1 mT
Source/Device
100 and 217 Hz
Exposure Duration
24-72 h

Exposure Context

This study used 0.1 mT for magnetic fields:

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 Exposure Level in ContextStudy Exposure Level in ContextThis study: 0.1 mTExtreme Concern - 5 mGFCC Limit - 2,000 mGEffects observed in the Extreme Concern range (Building Biology)FCC limit is 2 times higher than this level
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 217 Hz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 217 HzPower lines50/60 HzCell phones~1 GHzWiFi2.4 GHz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Study Details

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of 100 and 217 Hz extremely low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields (ELF-PEMF) on cell proliferation, actin reorganization, and ROS generation in a human breast carcinoma cells (T47D).

Cells were exposed for 24-72 h, at 100 and 217 Hz, 0.1 mT.

The treatment induced a time dependent decrease in cell growth after 72 h and revealed an increase ...

Our results support the hypothesis that cell response to EMF may only be observed at certain window effects; such as frequency and intensity of EMF parameters.

Cite This Study
Sadeghipour R, Ahmadian S, Bolouri B, Pazhang Y, Shafiezadeh M (2012). Effects of extremely low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields on morphological and biochemical properties of human breast carcinoma cells (T47D). Electromagn Biol Med. 31(4):425-435, 2012.
Show BibTeX
@article{r_2012_effects_of_extremely_lowfrequency_454,
  author = {Sadeghipour R and Ahmadian S and Bolouri B and Pazhang Y and Shafiezadeh M},
  title = {Effects of extremely low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields on morphological and biochemical properties of human breast carcinoma cells (T47D).},
  year = {2012},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22676212/},
}
PubMed: 22676212

Cited By (34 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

The researchers studied human breast carcinoma cells known as T47D.
Exposing the cells to 217 Hz for 72 h caused a dramatically increase of intracellular ROS generation while with exposure to 100 Hz it remained nearly unchanged.
Despite changes in actin and a dramatic increase in ROS generation, the symptoms of apoptosis were not observed.
The treatment induced a time dependent decrease in cell growth after 72 h.
The results support the hypothesis that cell response to EMF may only be observed at certain window effects, such as frequency and intensity of EMF parameters.