Effect of exposure to 50 Hz magnetic field with or without insulin on blood-brain barrier permeability in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
Gulturk S, Demirkazik A, Kosar I, Cetin A, Dökmetas HS, Demir T. · 2010
View Original AbstractMagnetic fields from power infrastructure can weaken the blood-brain barrier that protects your brain from toxins.
Plain English Summary
Scientists exposed diabetic rats to 50 Hz magnetic fields (from power lines) for three hours daily over 30 days. The magnetic fields increased blood-brain barrier permeability, allowing substances to pass more easily into brain tissue. This matters because a compromised barrier can let toxins reach the brain.
Why This Matters
This study demonstrates that extremely low frequency magnetic fields can compromise the blood-brain barrier, one of our body's most critical protective mechanisms. The 5 milliTesla exposure used here is significantly higher than typical household levels (usually 0.1-0.4 mT near appliances), but it's within the range you might encounter near high-voltage power lines or certain industrial equipment. What makes this research particularly concerning is that the magnetic fields showed an additive effect with diabetes, suggesting that people with metabolic conditions may be more vulnerable to EMF-induced barrier disruption. The blood-brain barrier exists specifically to keep harmful substances out of brain tissue, so anything that increases its permeability deserves serious attention from both researchers and the public.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 5 mG
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 165 min every day for 30 days.
Exposure Context
This study used 5 mG for magnetic fields:
- 250Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 50Kx 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 the effect of long-term exposure to modulation magnetic field (MF), insulin, and their combination on blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability in a diabetic rat model.
Fifty-three rats were randomly assigned to one of six groups: sham, exposed to no MF; MF, exposed to...
The extravasation of brain EB of the MF, DM, DMMF, DMI, and DMIMF groups was higher than that of the...
DM and MF increase BBB permeability; in combination, they cause more increase in BBB permeability, and insulin decreases their effect on BBB. Improved glucose metabolism may prevent body mass loss and the hypoglycemic effect of MF. DM increases MABP but MF causes no additional effect.
Show BibTeX
@article{s_2010_effect_of_exposure_to_649,
author = {Gulturk S and Demirkazik A and Kosar I and Cetin A and Dökmetas HS and Demir T.},
title = {Effect of exposure to 50 Hz magnetic field with or without insulin on blood-brain barrier permeability in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.},
year = {2010},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19953571/},
}