Hypersensitivity symptoms associated with exposure to cellular telephones: no causal link

The hypothesis that there exist hypersensitive persons who perceive subjective symptoms from radiofrequency (RF) fields emitted by hand held mobile phones (cellular phones) was tested using double blind provocation experiments. We also tested whether sensitive subjects are able to determine whether the phone is on or off by sensing RF fields. The study group consisted of 20 volunteers (13 women and 7 men) who reported themselves as being sensitive to cellular phones. The RF exposure sources were one analogue NMT phone (900 MHz) and two digital GSM phones (900 and 1800 MHz). The duration of a test session was 30 min, and three or four sessions were performed in random order for each subject during 1 day. The subjects were asked to report symptoms or sensations as soon as they perceived any abnormal feelings. In addition, the subjects' blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing frequency were monitored every 5 min. The results of the study indicated that various symptoms were reported, and most of them appeared in the head region. However, the number of reported symptoms was higher during sham exposure than during real exposure conditions. In addition, none of the test persons could distinguish real RF exposure from sham exposure. Hence, we conclude that adverse subjective symptoms or sensations, though unquestionably perceived by the test subjects, were not produced by cellular phones.     

Relative contribution of residential and occupational magnetic field exposure over twenty-four hours among people living close to and far from a power line

This study sought to estimate the relative contribution of exposure to 50 Hz magnetic fields experienced at home, at work/school, or elsewhere to the total exposure over 24 hr. Personal exposure meters were carried by 97 adults and children in the Stockholm area. About half of the subjects lived close (<50 m) to a transmission line and half far (>100 m) away. Spot measurements and calculations for the residential exposure were also made. For subjects living<50 m from the line, the exposure at home contributed about 80% of the total magnetic field exposure, measured in mT-hours. Adults living far away experienced only 38% of the total exposure at home, but children still received 55%. Subjects with low time-weighted average (TWA) exposure both at home and at work spent 84% of their time in fields <0.1 microT, and those with high TWA at both locations spent 69% of their time in fields > or = 0.2 microT. This contrast was diluted if only exposure at one location was considered. For spot measurements and calculations of the residential exposure, both sensitivity and specificity was good. However, the intermediate field exposure category (0.1-0.19 microT) showed poor correlation to the 24 hr personal measurements.     

Potential motion related bias in the worn dosimeter measurements of two childhood leukemia studies

Time averaged field measurements produced by a Positron dosimeter worn by study subjects was the primary method of exposure evaluation in two Canadian studies of childhood leukemia and AC magnetic field exposure. Statistically significant but mutually contradictory results obtained in the two studies, done in different locales but under similar study conditions, have not been explained. This report examines operational features of the Positron meter, including an unanticipated sensitivity to wearer motion. If the convalescent cases studied were less active than their healthy controls, as one might expect, then the meter's characteristic responses to motion, particularly as they would affect case-control distributions above and below the different referent group cutpoints used in the two studies, could help to explain both the unexpected inverse risks reported in the larger study and the unusually high risks reported in the smaller study.     

Mechanism of action of moderate-intensity static magnetic fields on biological systems

There is substantial evidence indicating that moderate-intensity static magnetic fields (SMF) are capable of influencing a number of biological systems, particularly those whose function is closely linked to the properties of membrane channels. Most of the reported moderate SMF effects may be explained on the basis of alterations in membrane calcium ion flux. The mechanism suggested to explain these effects is based on the diamagnetic anisitropic properties of membrane phospholipids. It is proposed that reorientation of these molecules during moderate SMF exposure will result in the deformation of imbedded ion channels, thereby altering their activation kinetics. Channel inactivation would not be expected to be influenced by these fields because this mechanism is not located within the intramembraneous portion of the channel. Patch-clamp studies of calcium channels have provided support for this hypothesis, as well as demonstrating a temperature dependency that is understandable on the basis of the membrane thermotropic phase transition. Additional studies have demonstrated that sodium channels are similarly affected by SMFs, although to a lesser degree. These findings support the view that moderate SMF effects on biological membranes represent a general phenomenon, with some channels being more susceptible than others to membrane deformation.     

Occupational magnetic field exposures of garment workers: results of personal and survey measurements

To explore the feasibility of performing an epidemiologic study of female breast cancer and magnetic field (MF) exposures, we chose to study garment workers, who reportedly have some of the highest MF exposures. We collected personal exposure (PE, n = 48) and survey measurements (n = 77) near commercial sewing machines at three garment facilities and conducted a pilot interview among 25 garment workers asking about exposure duration, activities, and machine characteristics. MF levels were higher for older machines with alternating current (AC) than newer machines with direct current (DC) motors. MF levels were comparable for both idling and sewing activities. Most interviewed workers could describe duration of exposure and machine type (automatic/manual), but not other machine characteristics. Measurements were lower than previously reported for garment workers but were higher than exposures to most women. A historical exposure assessment can be conducted by linking duration of exposure with reconstructed exposure measurements but may be limited by the accuracy of work history data.     

Effect of a 125 mT static magnetic field on the kinetics of voltage activated Na+ channels in GH3 cells

Voltage activated Na(+) channels were examined in GH3 cells, using the whole cell patch clamp method. Channel currents were recorded before, during, and after a 150 s exposure to a 125 mT static magnetic field. There was a slight shift in the current-voltage relationship and a less than 5% reduction in peak current during magnetic field exposure. More pronounced, however, was an increase in the activation time constant, tau(m), during and for at least 100 s following exposure to the field. This change in tau(m) was seen primarily at lower activation voltages. No change was noted in the inactivation time constant, tau(h). Changes were clearly temperature dependent, being evident only at and above 35 degrees C. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that reorientation of diamagnetic anisotropic molecules in the cell membrane are capable of distorting imbedded ion channels sufficiently to alter their function. The temperature dependence of this phenomenon is probably due to the greater ease with which a liquid crystal membrane can be deformed.     

The effect of exposure to high flux density static and pulsed magnetic fields on lymphocyte function

We investigated whether a combination of static electromagnetic field (EMF) at a flux density of 4.75 T together with pulsed EMF at a flux density of 0.7 mT generated by an NMR apparatus (NMRF), could promote movements of Ca(2+), cell proliferation, and the eventual production of proinflammatory cytokines in human lymphocytes as well as in Jurkat cells, after exposure to the field for 1 h. The same study was also performed after activation of cells with 5 micro g/ml phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) immediately before the exposure period. Our results clearly demonstrate that NMRF exposure increases the [Ca(2+)](i), without any proliferative, or activating, or proinflammatory effect on both normal and PHA stimulated lymphocytes. Accordingly, the levels of interferon gamma, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1beta, interleukin-2, and interleukin-6 remained unvaried after exposure. Exposure of Jurkat cells statistically decreased the [Ca(2+)](i) and the proliferation. This is consistent with the low levels of IL-2 measured in supernatants of these cells after exposure. On the whole our data suggest that static and pulsed NMRF exposure contribute synergistically in the increase of the [Ca(2+)](i) without any activating or proinflammatory effect either in normal or in PHA challenged lymphocytes. In Jurkat cells, by changing the properties of cell membranes, NMRF exposure can influence Ca(2+) transport processes and hence Ca(2+) homeostasis, causing a marked decrease of proliferation.     

A four coil exposure system (tetracoil) producing a highly uniform magnetic field

We propose a magnetic field exposure system (tetracoil) for in vitro and in vivo experiments, composed of two couples of circular coils satisfying a spherical constraint, whose characteristics are chosen in order to maximize the uniformity region of the magnetic field. Analytical calculations and computer simulations show that our system, as compared to the other most largely used magnetic field exposure systems, represents an optimal compromise in terms of field uniformity, accessibility for biological experiments, and ratio between overall dimension and uniformity region.     

Effect of coexposure to 50 Hz magnetic fields and an aneugen on human lymphocytes,determined by the cytokinesis block micronucleus assay

Interference of 50 Hz extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) with the known aneugen vinblastine (VBL) on micronucleus formation was tested with the in vitro cytokinesis block micronucleus assay in human lymphocyte cultures. Isolated lymphocyte cultures were prepared from 18 individuals. Three groups of quadruplicate cultures from six unrelated individuals were exposed to 50 Hz ELF-MF of background (bkg), 80 and 800 microT, respectively, during the complete incubation period (72 h). Twenty-four hours after culture initiation, one replicate culture from each individual within each ELF-MF group was exposed to 0, 5, 10, or 15 ng/ml VBL. The isolated lymphocyte cultures were scored for the presence of micronuclei, the nuclear division index (NDI), and apoptosis. As expected, increased VBL concentration resulted in an increased micronucleus and apoptosis frequency and in a decreased NDI. In the presence of VBL, there was a systematic tendency for increased micronucleus and apoptosis frequency in the ELF-MF exposed groups compared to the bkg group. In the absence of VBL, we observed no statistically significant effect of ELF-MF on micronucleus induction or apoptosis frequency, but the NDI was significantly higher in the 800 microT group compared to the other groups, suggesting an effect of ELF-MF on cell proliferation. An interaction between ELF-MF and VBL on NDI was observed. This interaction reflected the drastic decrease in NDI due to coexposure to VBL.     

Predicted SAR in Sprague-Dawley rat as a function of permittivity values

Specific absorption rate (SAR) value is dependent on permittivity value. However, variability in the published permittivity values for human and animal tissue and the development of sophisticated 3-dimensional digital anatomical models to predict SAR values has resulted in the need to understand how model parameters (permittivity value) affect the predicted whole body and localized SAR values. In this paper, we establish the partial derivative of whole body SARs and localized SAR values (defined as SAR for individual organs with respect to a change in the permittivity values of all tissue types, as well as for those tissues with the most variable permittivity values. Variations in the published permittivity values may substantially influence whole body and localized SAR values, but only under special conditions. Orientation of the exposed object to the incident electromagnetic wave is one of the most crucial factors. Published 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.