A study was carried out to determine possible effects of 60-Hz electromagnetic-field exposure on pineal gland function in humans. Overnight excretion of urinary 6-hydroxymelatonin sulfate (6-OHMS), a stable urinary metabolite of the pineal hormone melatonin, was used to assess pineal gland function in 42 volunteers who used standard (conventional) or modified continuous polymer wire (CPW) electric blankets for approximately 8 weeks. Volunteers using conventional electric blankets showed no variations in 6-OHMS excretion as either a group or individuals during the study period. Serving as their own controls, 7 of 28 volunteers using the CPW blankets showed statistically significant changes in their mean nighttime 6-OHMS excretion. The CPW blankets switched on and off approximately twice as often when in service and produced magnetic fields that were 50% stronger than those from the conventional electric blankets. On the basis of these findings, we hypothesize that periodic exposure to pulsed DC or extremely low frequency electric or magnetic fields of sufficient intensity and duration can affect pineal gland function in certain individuals.

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A lower limit of 1.16 x 10 23 yr (lcr) is reported for the half-life of no-neutrino P~j3~ decay of 76 Ge which results from 3763 h of counting with an ultralow-background, 135-cm 3 prototype detector located 1438 m underground. A limit of 1.7 x 10 23 yr (lcr) results from the best combination of our data with that from other experiments. Straightforward application of shell-model matrix elements to this limit implies that (m v ) < 3.2 eV (lcr).