Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation Exposure on Stress-Related Behaviors and Stress Hormones in Male Wistar Rats.
Mahdavi SM, Sahraei H, Yaghmaei P, Tavakoli H. · 2014
View Original AbstractVery low frequency EMF exposure disrupted stress hormones in rats, suggesting even common household electromagnetic fields may affect biological stress responses.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (1 and 5 Hz) for 21 days and measured changes in stress hormones and behavior. They found that these EMF exposures altered key stress hormones - increasing ACTH while decreasing noradrenaline - and changed glucose levels differently depending on frequency. The study demonstrates that even very low frequency electromagnetic fields can disrupt the body's stress response system.
Why This Matters
This study adds important evidence to our understanding of how extremely low frequency EMF affects biological stress systems. What makes this research particularly significant is that it examined frequencies (1 and 5 Hz) commonly found in power systems and some household appliances. The finding that EMF exposure altered critical stress hormones like ACTH and noradrenaline suggests these fields can interfere with fundamental biological processes that regulate how our bodies respond to stress. The fact that different frequencies produced different effects on glucose metabolism reinforces that EMF bioeffects are complex and frequency-dependent. While this was an animal study, the stress hormone systems examined are remarkably similar between rats and humans, making these findings relevant for understanding potential human health impacts from everyday EMF exposure.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.1 mG
- Source/Device
- 1 and 5 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 21 days
Exposure Context
This study used 0.1 mG for magnetic fields:
- 5Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 1Kx 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
In this study, short, medium, and long-term exposure to the extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) (1 and 5 Hz radiation) on behavioral, hormonal, and metabolic changes in male Wistar rats (250 g) were studied.
In addition, changes in plasma concentrations for two main stress hormones, noradrenaline and adren...
ELF-EMF exposure did not alter body weight, and food and water intake. Plasma glucose level was incr...
In conclusions, these data showed that the effects of 1 and 5 Hz on the hormonal, metabolic and stress-like behaviors may be different. Moreover, the influence of waves on stress system is depending on time of exposure.
Show BibTeX
@article{sm_2014_effects_of_electromagnetic_radiation_277,
author = {Mahdavi SM and Sahraei H and Yaghmaei P and Tavakoli H. },
title = {Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation Exposure on Stress-Related Behaviors and Stress Hormones in Male Wistar Rats.},
year = {2014},
url = {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4256039/},
}