EFFECTS OF EXTREMELY-LOW-FREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC-FIELDS ON ION-TRANSPORT IN SEVERAL MAMMALIAN-CELLS

We have investigated the effects of sinusoidal electromagnetic fields (EMF) on ion transport (Ca2+, Na+, K+, and H+) in several cell types ( red blood cells, thymocytes, Ehrlich ascites tumor cells, and HL60 and U937 human leukemia cells). The effects on the uptake of radioactive tracers as well as on the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+](i)), th e intracellular pH (pH(i)), and the transmembrane potentsial (TMP) wer e studied. Exposure to EMF at 50 Hz and 100-2000 mu T (rms) had no sig nificant effects on any of these parameters. Exposure to EMF of 20-120 0 mu T (rms) at the estimated cyclotron magnetic resonance frequencies for the respective ions had no significant effects except for a 12-32 % increase of the uptake of K-42 within a window at 14.5-15.5 Hz and 1 00-200 mu T (rms), which was found in U937 and Ehrlich cells but not i n the other cell types. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss,Inc.