Unknown authors · 2001
Researchers examined responses of the small heat shock protein gene hsp-16 in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans exposed to electromagnetic fields. Expression of the hsp-16-lacZ gene was enhanced when transgenic animals were exposed to magnetic fields up to 0.5 T at 60 Hz. The hsp-16 promoter was more efficiently expressed at the embryonic than at the post-embryonic stage irrespective of exposure. Promoter activity was more sensitive to the stimulus in the intestine at the post-embryonic stage.
Unknown authors · 2001
Researchers exposed normal human skin fibroblasts to nitrogen ions at LETs of 80-225 keV/microm and measured DNA double-strand breaks using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. DSB yield increased from 4.5 +/- 0.2 to 10.0 +/- 0.3 DSBs per particle traversal when LET increased from 80 to 225 keV/microm. Fragment size distribution showed an excess of fragments at 50-200 kbp and around 1 Mbp, and repair was slower at higher LET with nonrandom distributions persisting after 1 hour.
Unknown authors · 2001
Unknown authors · 2001
Researchers demonstrated that a 50- to 60-Hz magnetic field interacts with cell differentiation through two opposing mechanisms. The field antagonizes the shift in cell membrane surface charges during early differentiation and modulates hyperpolarizing K channels by increasing intracellular calcium. The simultaneous onset of both mechanisms prevents alterations in cell differentiation. The authors propose that cells are normally protected against electromagnetic insult.
Unknown authors · 2001
The study group consisted of 14 people who reported a hypersensitivity to electricity, including disabling fatigue. Cholinesterase activity was assessed three times: twice based on current symptoms (severe fatigue attributed to electromagnetic fields and absence of this symptom) and once at a randomly selected time. No significant reduction in acetylcholinesterase was identified in any subject, and no correlation between reported degree of fatigue and cholinesterase activity was observed.
Unknown authors · 2001
Researchers conducted a nationwide population-based case-control study of breast cancer risk among 30- to 54-year-old Danish women who worked predominantly at night. Employment histories were reconstructed back to 1964 for 7035 women with breast cancer and their individually matched controls from a nationwide pension scheme. The odds ratio for breast cancer among women who worked at night for at least half a year was 1.5 (95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 1.7), with a tendency toward higher odds with longer duration of nighttime employment.
Unknown authors · 2001
Researchers independently replicated a study testing whether a 1.2 microT, 60 Hz magnetic field alters the effects of melatonin and tamoxifen on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. In the melatonin experiment, repeated three times, melatonin reduced cell numbers by 16.7% after seven days, but this reduction disappeared when cells were exposed to the magnetic field. In the tamoxifen experiment, repeated nine times, tamoxifen reduced cell growth by 18.6% and 25% on days six and seven without the field, but only by 8.7% and 13.1% with the field. The results were consistent with the original findings of Harland and Liburdy.
Unknown authors · 2001
Researchers conducted a population-based case-control study across former West Germany. They measured 24-hour residential magnetic fields for 514 children with acute leukemia and 1,301 control children. Childhood leukemia and 24-hour median magnetic fields showed only a weak relationship. However, a significant association emerged for magnetic field exposure during the night.
Unknown authors · 2001
A marked excess risk was found for machinery repairers, and increased relative risks were noted for several other occupations. The relative risk for exposure above 0.12 microtesla was 1.31 (95% CI 0.94-1.81) without a clear exposure-response pattern, but intermittent exposure showed indications of an exposure-response relationship. The authors concluded there is no clear evidence for an etiological role of ELFMF in male breast cancer, but large variations in exposure over the workday may be associated with increased risk.
Unknown authors · 2001
A peak in childhood leukemia at ages two through four emerged in the 1920s in the United Kingdom and later in the United States. During 1928-1932, states with above 75% residential electrification showed increasing leukemia mortality with age, while less electrified states showed a decreasing trend. At ages 2-4, a 10% increase in home electrification was associated with a 24% increase in leukemia mortality.
Unknown authors · 2001
Analyses used dichotomous and continuous exposure models, heterogeneity assessments, influence analyses, and publication bias checks. Results were combined with national exposure data to estimate population attributable risk for U.S. children.
Unknown authors · 2001
Effects of low frequency pulsed electric field on insulin studied by fluorescent spectrum. The experiment results demonstrate that the conformation of insulin molecular has been altered by electric fields exposure for 30 minutes or by heat exposure for 50 hours. The results suggest that pulsed electric field exposure as heat exposure will after conformation of insulin molecular by breaking some hydrogen bonds and recombining another hydrogen bonds.
Unknown authors · 2001
The study examined 30 human volunteers. Volunteers were exposed to a 28 microT circularly polarized 50 Hz magnetic field for 50 minutes in a double-blind crossover design. The majority of cognitive measures showed no significant effect of exposure. Verbal recall of a 15-word list after interference was significantly impaired during field exposure. Performance on a trail-making task requiring executive functioning also decreased with exposure.
Unknown authors · 2001
This paper reviews 43 publications that provide information about possible associations between exposure to electric and magnetic fields (EMF) at work or at home and risks of breast cancer in women and men. Estimation of relative risk associated with exposure was possible for 24 studies among women and 15 among men. The pooled RR from studies in women was 1.12 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.15), but variations between the contributing results are not easily attributable to chance (P = 0.0365). A fairly homogeneous increased risk was found for men (a pooled RR of 1.37, with 95% confidence limits of 1.11, 1.71, and homogeneity P-value = 0.1101). However, in both genders, results from individual studies are very variable and in part contradictory.
Unknown authors · 2001
The paper used meta-analysis to review literature on neurodegenerative diseases, suicide, and depressive symptoms in relation to EMF. For ALS, relatively strong data indicated electric utility work may be associated with increased risk, though EMF is only one possible explanation. For Alzheimer's disease, the combined data on an association with EMF were weaker than for ALS. For suicide, the overall assessment concluded that support for an association is weak. For depressive symptoms, the evidence was also considered relatively weak.
Unknown authors · 2001
Researchers conducted a population-based case-control study of 843 breast cancer cases and 773 controls to examine occupational electromagnetic field exposure and breast cancer incidence. Exposure was classified based on the two longest-held jobs and cumulative magnetic field indices from a measurement survey. Breast cancer was not associated with office or industrial work, and cumulative exposure over the career and recent periods showed odds ratios close to null. Moderately elevated risks appeared for intermediate cumulative exposure 20 or more years ago (OR=1.5, 95% CI=1.1-2.0), with stronger associations for premenopausal women (OR=1.7, 95% CI=1.1-2.7) and ER+ tumors (OR=2.06, 95% CI=1.1-4.0), but no consistent dose-response patterns were observed.
Unknown authors · 2001
Unknown authors · 2001
Unknown authors · 2001
Unknown authors · 2001
In 1998, researchers studied the effect of residential exposure to electric and magnetic fields from high-power lines on female urinary excretion of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin in the Quebec City metropolitan area. A sample of 221 women living near a 735-kV line was compared with 195 women of the same age living away from any power lines. Participants provided morning urine samples on two consecutive days and wore a magnetic dosimeter for 36 consecutive hours while indoor electric fields were assessed by spot measurements. After adjustment for factors such as medication use and light exposure, nighttime concentration of 6-OHMS was similar in the two groups. When either 24-hour or sleep-time exposure to magnetic or electric fields was used, no exposure-effect relation was evident.
Unknown authors · 2001
Each woman provided data over a 72-hour period in two different seasons, including bedroom magnetic field and ambient light measured every 30 seconds, personal magnetic field measured at 30-second intervals, and complete nighttime urine samples on three consecutive nights. Lower nocturnal urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin levels were associated with more hours of daylight, older age, higher body mass index, current alcohol consumption, and current use of beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, or psychotropics. After adjusting for these factors, higher bedroom magnetic field levels were associated with significantly lower urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin concentration during the same night, primarily in women using those medications and during times of year with the fewest hours of darkness.
Unknown authors · 2001
Researchers used indirect immunofluorescence to examine histamine-containing mast cells in skin biopsies from 13 healthy volunteers before and after they sat in front of ordinary TV or PC screens for 2 or 4 h. In 5 of the 13 volunteers, the number of mast cells in the papillary and reticular dermis increased after exposure. Mast cells migrated toward the uppermost dermis, the normally empty zone disappeared, and some cells showed degranulation. Two volunteers showed a decrease in mast cell number, but the upward shift was still visible. All changes returned to baseline within Twenty-four h.
Unknown authors · 2001
They concluded that study quality has improved and recent studies on childhood leukemia and occupational cancer approach the limits of feasible size and rigor. The review found no chronic disease with an established etiological relation to EMF. Childhood leukemia showed the strongest association with postnatal exposures above 0.4 microtesla (relative risk 2.0, 95% CI 1.27-3.13), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis showed an association with occupational exposure that could be due to confounding.
Unknown authors · 2001
Researchers evaluated leukemia mortality among adults and childhood leukemia incidence in a 10 km area around the Vatican Radio Station in Rome. The station transmitted up to 600 kW and electric field measurements near it ranged from 1.5 to 25 V/m. Childhood leukemia incidence was higher than expected within 6 km (SIR = 217; 95% CI 99-405), and Stone's test showed a significant decrease in risk with distance for male adult mortality (p = 0.03) and childhood incidence (p = 0.04).
Unknown authors · 2001
The patient experienced headaches, unilateral left blurred vision and pupil constriction, and unilateral altered sensation on the forehead. Current perception threshold testing showed abnormalities in the left trigeminal ophthalmic nerve. Nerve function recovered during 6 months follow-up. The exposure was 0.015-0.06 mW/cm(2) over 1-2 h.
