Some Studies on the Biological Effects of Magnetic Fields
Henry Aceto Jr., Cornelius A. Tobias, Ira Lee Silver · 1970
The review speculates that magnetic field phenomena may be associated with physiologic processes and could have deleterious effects on biological systems.
Plain English Summary
The authors reviewed observed effects of magnetic fields reported by others along with aspects of their own work. Beischer measured cardiophysiology changes in squirrel monkeys exposed to constant magnetic fields up to nearly 10° gauss, finding a pulsating electrical dipole generated by blood movement superimposed on the ECG. Neurophysiologic effects range from neuronal inhibition in cockroaches to increased reaction rates in humans. Amer studied the coupling of magnetic fields with temperature, ionizing radiation, and oxygen tension on Tribolium confusum development, using molting failures and wing abnormalities as indices.
Why This Matters
Gualticrotti found that frog skin depolarizes under a constant magnetic field, with the major effect occurring abruptly at about 6000 Oc and the changes are not reversible but show hysteresis. Barnes demonstrated that constant magnetic fields can increase the rate of simple zero-order ionic chemical reactions limited by ionic diffusion, and that mechanical stirring eliminates this effect. Near the temperature stability limit, a 6000 gauss constant magnetic field protected Tribolium development, allowing normal development at approximately 1°C higher temperature than without the field.
Show BibTeX
@article{some_studies_on_the_biological_effects_of_magnetic_fields_g5866,
author = {Henry Aceto Jr. and Cornelius A. Tobias and Ira Lee Silver},
title = {Some Studies on the Biological Effects of Magnetic Fields},
year = {1970},
}