| Abstract: | This study was undertaken to determine the effects of extremely low frequency (ELF; 60 Hz) electromagnetic (EM) fields on somatic growth and cortical development, as well as biochemical and morphological maturation, of the rat neopallium. On the fifth day of pregnancy, female rats were put in pairs into plastic cages that were housed in a specially constructed apparatus for irradiation under three separate sets of combination and intensity: 1) 1 kV/m and 10 gauss; 2) 100 kV/m and 1 gauss; and 3) 100 kV/m and 10 gauss. The dams were exposed for 23 h daily, from days 5 through 19 postconception after which they were returned to cages outside the exposure apparatus until they littered. The neonates were culled to eight pups per litter. At 0 (birth), 5, 12, and 19 days postnatally, they were killed for biochemical and morphological studies. Another group of pregnant rats was sham-exposed in an identical apparatus, which was not energized, and the pups were used as controls. The irradiated rats exhibited no physical abnormalities, nor did they show brain deformities such as swelling or herniation following exposure to ELF-EM fields. There was no difference in somatic growth between control and exposed rats, but a small reduction in cortical weight was observed in rats exposed at 1 kV/m and 10 gauss, and 100 kV/m and 1 gauss, respectively. Biochemical measurements of DNA. RNA, protein, and cerebroside concentrations indicated that among the three separate exposures, only the neopallium of rats exposed at 1 kV/m and 10 gauss showed a small reduction in DNA level, as well as small reductions in RNA and protein levels. No changes were noticed in cerebroside levels in any exposed animals, and there were no differences in protein/DNA and cerebroside/DNA ratios between control and exposed rats. Morphological observations did not reveal any detectable alterations in the irradiated rats. These results indicate that exposure to ELF-EM fields caused minimal or no changes in somatic growth and cerebral development of the rat. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc. |
