EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL CARCINOGENICITY OF 60 HZ LINEAR SINUSOIDAL CONTINUOUS-WAVE MAGNETIC-FIELDS IN FISCHER F344 RATS

Citation
R. Mandeville et al., EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL CARCINOGENICITY OF 60 HZ LINEAR SINUSOIDAL CONTINUOUS-WAVE MAGNETIC-FIELDS IN FISCHER F344 RATS, The FASEB journal, 11(13), 1997, pp. 1127-1136
Citations number
42
Categorie Soggetti
Biology,Biology
Journal title
ISSN journal
08926638
Volume
11
Issue
13
Year of publication
1997
Pages
1127 - 1136
Database
ISI
SICI code
0892-6638(1997)11:13<1127:EOTPCO>2.0.ZU;2-R
Abstract
Electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) associated with the production, tr ansmission, and use of electricity are ubiquitous in industrialized so cieties. These fields are predominantly of low frequency (50/60 Hz) an d are generally of low intensity. Review of the epidemiological eviden ce shows that the association between exposure to EMFs and cancer is w eak and inconsistent, and generally fails to show a dose-response rela tionship. Moreover, in view of the methodological problems of these ep idemiological studies, animal and laboratory studies are urgently need ed to determine whether EMFs could be initiators and/or promoters of c ancers. The objective of the present study was to determine whether ch ronic exposure to 60 Hz linear (single axis) sinusoidal, continuous-wa ve magnetic fields (MFs) of different intensities might increase the r isk of leukemia and solid tumor development in rodents born and raised under these fields. Five groups of 50 female F344 rats were exposed f or 20 h/day to 60 Hz MFs at intensities of <0.02 (sham controls), 2, 2 0, 200, and 2000 mu T. Full body exposure to the different fields was administered for 104 wk starting from the prenatal period (2 days befo re birth) and continuing during lactation and weaning until late adult Life. Body weight, survival, and clinical observations were evaluated in all groups of animals during in-life exposure. Necropsy was perfor med on all exposed and control animals that died, were found moribund, or were killed at termination of the study. To preserve and demonstra te the absence of any experimental bias, all clinical observations and pathological evaluations were conducted under ''blinded'' conditions. Fifty organs and tissues were evaluated in each animal, with special attention to the incidence of mononuclear cell leukemia, brain tumors, and mammary tumors. The findings from this chronic carcinogenicity st udy dem onstrate that, under our defined experimental conditions, expo sure to 60 Hz linear (single axis) sinusoidal, continuous wave MFs did not affect animal survival, solid tumor, or mononuclear cell leukemia development in female F344 rats. No statistically significant, consis tent, positive dose-related trends with the number of tumor-bearing an imals per study group could be attributed to MF exposure.