Influence of 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields on the human heart

Korpinen, Leena; Partanen, Jarmo; Uusitalo, A

doi:10.1002/bem.2250140405

Cited by 38 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Decreased heart rate after exposure to 50 Hz EMFs (up to 10.21 kV/m and 15.43 µT for several hours) has also been reported 6) . However, these findings could have been related to changes in the workload of the subjects.…”

mentioning

confidence: 62%

ECG Changes in Humans Exposed to 50 Hz Magnetic Fields

Borjanovic¹,

Jankovic²,

Pejovic³

2005

Journal of Occupational Health

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ECG Changes in Humans Exposed to 50Hz Magnetic Fields: Srdjan S. BORJANOVIC, et al. Institute of Occupational Health "Dr. Dragomir Karajovic", Serbia and Montenegro-Possible health issues of ELF EMFs include cardiovascular effects since both electrocardiogram and heart-rate changes have been reported in the literature. A non-linear relationship between field strength and biological response has been reported in some studies. In this study, a total of 59 subjects, divided into three independent magnetic field strength groups, were compared. A calculated 12-hour time weighted average (TWA) value of the fields was used as an exposure metric for each of the three locations ("low": 0.067 µT, "medium": 1.18 µT and "high": 5.2 µT) and subsequently used to estimate workers' exposure at these sites. Electrocardiograms were recorded in the resting position. Five parameters were derived from the ECG: heart rate (HR), duration of P wave and QRS wave, and duration of PR and QT intervals. The QT intervals were normalized to a heart rate of 60 (QTc). The obtained data were analyzed first by means of multivariate analysis of covariance and then oneway univariate analyses of covariances (ANCOVA) using exposure duration as a covariate. Only the ANCOVA on the QTc interval was significant. Our results suggest that the relationship between field strength and response is non-linear: the adjusted mean QTc values are similar between the "low" and the "high" group, but significantly lower in the "medium" group. One possible interpretation of our results is that a specific exposure pattern might be responsible for the non-linear effects observed, so that generally, characterizing exposure to electric and magnetic fields using simple metrics such as TWA may be insufficient. Among the possible health effects of exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF EMFs), cardiovascular effects have been reported in the database of EMF bioeffects. Studies of ELF EMFs and the cardiovascular system have generally focused on acute rather then long-term effects. Both electrocardiogram (ECG) changes and heart-rate changes have been reported in the literature. An increase in the amplitude of the Twave signal in the rat electrocardiogram was observed during exposure to magnetic fields. This change, however, was the result of a superimposed electrical potential generated by aortic blood flow in the presence of the magnetic field 1) . The T-wave was affected rather than other components of ECG, since blood flows through the aorta during the period when ventricular repolarization is taking place. The increased T-wave voltage was unrelated to the electrical activity of the pacemaker area of the heart and the ECG change was simply a reflection of the coincident "magnetohydrodynamic" voltage generated by the blood flow in the presence of the applied magnetic field.Investigators at one laboratory (Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, Missouri., USA) have studied the effects of EMFs on the heart rate in humans for several years 1,2...

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confidence: 62%

ECG Changes in Humans Exposed to 50 Hz Magnetic Fields

Borjanovic¹,

Jankovic²,

Pejovic³

2005

Journal of Occupational Health

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“…Human volunteer studies provide contradictory findings. Some have indicated bradycardia as one of the cardiac effects of exposure to weak power frequency EMF [2][3][4]; whereas others do not report any significant cardiovascular abnormalities [5][6][7][8]. In some studies, dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system [9], arterial blood pressure (hypo-or hypertension), heart rhythm (brady-or tachycardia) disturbances [10,11] and an increased neuromuscular activity [12] were found in workers occupationally exposed to 50/60 Hz EMF.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurovegetative Disturbances in Workers Exposed to 50 Hz Electromagnetic Fields

Bortkiewicz¹,

Gadzicka²,

Zmyślony³

et al. 2006

International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health

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Objectives: Since the circulatory and nervous systems are composed of electrically excitable tissues, it is plausible that they can be stimulated by electromagnetic fields (EMF). No clinical studies have as yet been carried out to explain whether and how occupational exposure to 50 Hz EMF can influence the neurovegetative regulation of the cardiovascular function. The present project was undertaken to assess the autonomic function in workers occupationally exposed to 50 Hz EMF, by analyzing the heart rate variability. Materials and Methods: The study group comprised 63 workers of switchyard substations, aged 22-67 years (39.2 ± 10.0 years), and the control group 42 workers of radio link stations, aged 20-68 years (40.7 ± 9.2 years), employed at workposts free from EMF exposure. The age range and employment duration in both groups did not differ significantly. To assess the neurovegetative regulation of the cardiac function, heart rate variability (HRV) analysis was made based on 512 normal heart beats recorded at rest. The analysis, performed using fast Fourier transformation, concerned the time-and frequency-domain HRV parameters. Power spectrum in the very low (VLF), low (LF) and high (HF) frequency bands was determined. Results: The relative risk of decreased HRV (STD R-R < 27 ms), calculated with use of a logistic regression model, was significantly higher in the exposed group than in controls (OR = 2.8). The VLF power spectrum was significantly higher in the exposed group and correlated with the exposure level. The percentage of subjects with dominant sympathetic function (LF/HF>1) was significantly higher in the study group than in controls (65% vs. 47%). Conclusions: It was concluded that occupational exposure to 50 Hz EMF could influence the neurovegetative regulation of the cardiovascular system.

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“…Despite the importance of gathering human-specific data, given interspecies differences in cardiac activity, few studies for risk assessment have been performed on human tissues. Some studies in which the strength of EMF exposure was sufficiently low to be safe, have been performed in humans (Cook et al, 1992;Korpinen et al, 1993;Graham et al, 1994;Korpinen and Partanen, 1994). In this study, hiPSCMs were subjected to short-term exposure to a 50 Hz MF at 400 mT, and the results suggested that under these conditions, MF exposure does not affect the electrical activity of hiPS-CMs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…However, theoretical models are limited in their ability to predict human responses, as it is known that many aspects of fundamental cardiac activity, such as beating rate and electrocardiogram results (Boukens et al, 2014;Denning et al, 2016), differ between species. Although some human studies have been reported, the strength of EMF exposure was sufficiently low to be safe (Cook et al, 1992;Korpinen et al, 1993;Graham et al, 1994;Korpinen and Partanen, 1994), and limited experimental data are available for direct evaluation of human effects. In Environmental Health Criteria 238 (World Health Organization, 2007) published by the World Health Organization, it was concluded that hazard-ous cardiovascular effects associated with low-frequency EMFs are unlikely to occur at the exposure levels commonly encountered environmentally or occupationally; furthermore, the current international guidelines/standards based on nervous system sensitivity prevent cardiac hazard from electric stimulation, including that induced by exposure to low-frequency EMFs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the effects of power-frequency magnetic fields on the electrical activity of cardiomyocytes differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells

et al. 2017

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-Although cardiac activity is known to differ between species in many respects, most evaluations of the cardiac effects of low-frequency electric and magnetic fields, which have a stimulant effect on electrically activated cells, have been performed in non-human experimental animals and cells, and the effects in humans have been assessed using theoretical models. In recent years, it has been verified that human cardiomyocytes differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPS-CM) are useful for evaluating human responses to various cardioactive compounds. In this study, we applied hiPSCMs for the first time to evaluate the human cardiac effects of power-frequency magnetic fields (MFs). After preparation of hiPS-CMs, we subjected a hiPS-CM monolayer formed on a multi-electrode array to short-term exposure to a 50 Hz MF at 400 mT with recording of the extracellular field potentials. The field potential duration of the hiPS-CMs did not differ significantly pre-and post-exposure, indicating that under these conditions, exposure to a 50 Hz MF at 400 mT does not affect the electrical activity of hiPSCMs.

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Influence of 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields on the human heart

Cited by 38 publications

References 4 publications

ECG Changes in Humans Exposed to 50 Hz Magnetic Fields

ECG Changes in Humans Exposed to 50 Hz Magnetic Fields

Neurovegetative Disturbances in Workers Exposed to 50 Hz Electromagnetic Fields

Evaluation of the effects of power-frequency magnetic fields on the electrical activity of cardiomyocytes differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells

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