Extremely low frequency magnetic fields originating from equipment used for assisted reproduction, umbilical cord and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, transfusion, and hemodialysis

This report shows that the background magnetic field in biological incubators can vary by orders of magnitude within and between incubators. These variations can be observed within the same incubator in locations that are centimeters apart from each other as well as between incubators that are identical and located in the same laboratory. Additionally, the values measured were frequently outside the range of magnitudes found naturally on the Earth's surface or ordinary habitation spaces. Exposure to such altered magnetic field environments has been experimentally shown to be sufficient to cause numerous effects in cell cultures. Examples of the effects reported span from differential generation of free radicals and heat shock proteins to differences in cellular proliferation, differentiation, and death. Although the effects are not well established and the molecular mechanism of action is currently under debate, these observations alone support the notion that the inhomogeneity of the background magnetic field in incubators is a potential confounding source of the variability and reproducibility for studies performed on cell cultures. In this regard, it is recommended that special measures be adopted to control the background magnetic fields in incubators when investigating the biological effects of exposure to magnetic fields of comparable characteristics as the ones measured in this study, or when studying small biological effects in general.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Inhomogeneous background magnetic field in biological incubators is a potential confounder for experimental variability and reproducibility

Portelli

Schomay

Barnes

2013

“…More recently, other occupational environments have been investigated [McCurdy et al, 2001;Deadman and Infant-Rivard, 2002;Forssén et al, 2004;Szabó et al, 2006;Mee et al, 2009]. A few studies have described ELF fields emitted by systems used for therapy or diagnosis in hospitals [Paul et al, 1994;Bullough et al, 1996;Li et al, 2000;Lee et al, 2003;Riminesi et al, 2004;Moriyama et al, 2005;Bradley et al, 2007;Roh et al, 2009]. Although the data indicate that medical personnel working in hospitals is a group potentially exposed to relatively strong ELF MF, the information on the characteristics and levels of exposure in specific job categories in hospitals is still scarce and incomplete.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Assessment of occupational exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields in hospital personnel

Úbeda

Martínez

Cid³

et al. 2011

It has been proposed that chronic exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (MF) in occupational environments could represent a risk factor for a number of disorders. Medical and technical workers in hospitals have been reported to be exposed to relatively strong ELF fields. The present work aims to characterize exposure to MF in the 5 Hz to 2 kHz frequency range in a large hospital through both instantaneous environmental measurements and personal monitoring of workers. The study was conducted in different working environments of a hospital with about 4400 employees, many of them working at two or more different work stations and consequently, exposed to MF levels that were expected to be unevenly distributed in space and time. The results indicate that: (1) The dominant frequency at the studied environments was 50 Hz (average 90.8 ± 6% of the total B value); (2) The best descriptive information on a worker's exposure is obtained from personal monitoring of volunteer workers; (3) The arithmetic averages of exposure levels obtained from the monitoring ranged from 0.03 ± 0.01 µT in nurses to 0.39 ± 0.13 µT in physiotherapists; and (4) The description of the MF environment through spot measurements in the workplace, although coherent with the data from personal monitoring, might not adequately estimate MF exposure in some professional categories.

“…Each lamp was controlled by a pair of three-way switches that were installed at SW1' and SW2' in the studied room, and SW1 and SW2 in the room downstairs. We used a Triaxial ELF Magnetic Meter Model 4090 (Bell Technology, Orlando, FL, USA) to measure the ELF-MF magnitudes (|B|) at floor level and at heights of 0.50, 1.00, 1.50, 2.00, and 2.50 m [Gauger, 1985;Moriyama et al, 2005].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Apartment electrical wiring: A cause of extremely low frequency magnetic field exposure in residential areas

Moriyama

Yoshitomi

2005

Self Cite

Extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (MFs) were measured at 696 points in a room of a Japanese apartment building. The building had 124 rooms with layouts and wiring identical to those of the studied room. ELF-MFs exceeded 0.4 microT in 24% of the living space, and the maximum value, 1.8 microT, was detected at floor level. Analysis of the MF distribution revealed that 60 Hz 100 V electrical wiring for room lights within the floor and ceiling had been laid out in large rectangles, equivalent to 1 turn coils. Further plotting of the vertical components every 0.01 m on the floor indicated that the depth of the cable was 0.23 m. Further studies should be conducted in order to confirm that the building investigated in this pilot study is typical of Japanese apartment buildings in terms of ELF-MFs.