Increased vascular permeability in the circumventricular organs of adult rat brain due to stimulation by extremely low frequency magnetic fields.
Gutiérrez-Mercado YK, Cañedo-Dorantes L, Gómez-Pinedo U, Serrano-Luna G, Bañuelos-Pineda J, Feria-Velasco A. · 2013
View Original AbstractEMF exposure at 0.66 mT compromised the blood-brain barrier in rats, potentially allowing harmful substances into brain tissue.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to 120 Hz magnetic fields and found the fields made brain blood vessels leaky and dilated. This suggests EMF exposure might weaken the blood-brain barrier, which normally protects the brain from harmful substances in the bloodstream.
Why This Matters
This research provides concerning evidence that extremely low frequency magnetic fields can compromise the blood-brain barrier, one of our body's most critical protective mechanisms. The study used magnetic field exposure of 0.66 milliTesla at 120 Hz, which is within the range of fields generated by some household appliances and power systems. What makes this particularly significant is that the blood-brain barrier exists specifically to keep potentially harmful substances out of brain tissue. The science demonstrates that EMF exposure can make this barrier more permeable, essentially weakening our brain's natural defenses. While this was an animal study, the biological mechanisms involved are shared across mammalian species, making these findings relevant to human health concerns about EMF exposure from our increasingly electrified environment.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.66 mG
- Source/Device
- 120 Hz
Exposure Context
This study used 0.66 mG for magnetic fields:
- 33Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 6.6Kx 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 the current study, the effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) MF on the capillaries of some circumventricular organs (CVOs) are demonstrated; a vasodilator effect is reported as well as an increase in their permeability to non-liposoluble substances.
For this study, 96 Wistar male rats (250 g body mass) were used and divided into three groups of 32 ...
An increase in capillary permeability to CC was detected in the ELF-MF-exposed group as well as a si...
It is important to investigate the mechanisms involved in the phenomena reported here in order to explain the effects of ELF-MF on brain vasculatur
Show BibTeX
@article{yk_2013_increased_vascular_permeability_in_650,
author = {Gutiérrez-Mercado YK and Cañedo-Dorantes L and Gómez-Pinedo U and Serrano-Luna G and Bañuelos-Pineda J and Feria-Velasco A.},
title = {Increased vascular permeability in the circumventricular organs of adult rat brain due to stimulation by extremely low frequency magnetic fields.},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.1002/bem.21757},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bem.21757},
}