Health Implications of Electromagnetic Fields, Mechanisms of Action, and Research Needs

Table 5

Studies concerning the health effects of electromagnetic fields on the nervous system.

EMF characteristics	Study group	Method	Study outcome	Reference
1 mT 50 Hz EMF plus 45 dB SPL (expand) noise for 1 hr duration	66 subjects	Double-blind study	Decreased cognitive performance in attention, perception, and memory	[130]
Four different groups with different durations, days, orientation, and levels of EMF exposure (60 Hz, 1, 3.3, 10 Gauss)	Male C57BL mice	Concentrations of DOPAC*, HVA^†, and 5-HIAA^‡ in brain tissue were determined with HPLC-ECD	Monoamine levels are affected only by EMF when the exposure is in the same direction as the mouse position.	[42]
700 MHz continuous; RF-EMF, 25.2–71.0 V/m, 5–15 min	Slices of rat hippocampus	Evoked field potential	Increases in the level of neuronal excitability	[139]
900 MHz CW MP emissions	15 subjects, two sessions for 45 min	Recording of motor evoked potential using paired-pulse paradigm, tympanic temperature	Influence on motor cortex excitability	[140]
ELF-MFs	Mice Balb/c	Y-maze	Impairment in spatial recognition memory depending on field strength and length of exposure	[141]
GSM 900 MHz from MP, 2 h/days for 4 days at SAR = 0.41 to 0.98 W/kg	16-week-old female rat	Morris water maze	Reduced ability to consolidate and retrieve the learned spatial information	[27]
900 MHz EMF (1 h/day for 28 days) SAR-0.016 whole body and 2 W/kg (locally in the head)	Sham exposed group, 16 rats, and four exposure groups, each with eight rats	Number of pyramidal cells in region in hippocampus following postnatal exposure, histopathological evaluations on sections of CA region	Significant reduction in pyramidal cell number in the CA of the EMF group	[142]
GSM 915 MHz for 2 h in cells at SARs of 0, 0.12, 1.2, 12 and 120 mW/kg	Forty-eight inbred male and female Fischer 344 rats	Histopathological assessment of albumin extravasation over the BBB, neuronal albumin uptake, and neuronal damage	Interruption of BBB permeability as evidenced by enhanced albumin extravasation in exposed rats after seven-day recovery period	[30]

*DOPAC: dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, ^†HVA: homovanillic acid, ^‡5-HIAA: 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, CA: cornu ammonis, and TEM: transverse electromagnetic cell.