Magnetic fields generated by an induction heating (IH) cook top do not cause genotoxicity in vitro

Abstract

The use of induction heater (IH) cook tops in homes has become widespread, especially in Japan, but there are concerns about the safety of intermediate frequency (IF) electromagnetic fields associated with these cooking appliances. Since the cellular genotoxicity of IF magnetic fields has not been examined in cultured cells, we examined the effects of these fields at a magnetic flux density of 532 +/- 20 microT at 23 kHz, using an exposure unit with a built-in CO2 incubator. Exposure to the IF magnetic field at 532 microT for 2 h did not affect the growth of CHO-K1 cells and caused no mutagenic effects in bacterial mutation assays. Exposure to the IF magnetic field for 2 h induced neither single nor double DNA strand breaks in comet assays, and caused no significant change in the mutation frequency at the HPRT locus compared to sham exposure. The magnetic field used in this study is more than 80 times higher than the level recommended as safe in the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines. From these results, we suggest that exposure to an IF magnetic field for 2 h does not cause cellular genotoxicity in bacteria and in Chinese hamster cells. However, the possibility of effects on other cellular functions remains, and further studies on the cellular effects of IF magnetic fields are required.

Intermediate frequency magnetic fields generated by an induction heating (IH) cooktop do not affect genotoxicities and expression of heat shock proteins

“…It has been reported that IF magnetic fields, i.e., at 2 kHz and 0.91 mT, 20 kHz and 1.1 mT, and 60 kHz and 0.11 mT, did not exhibit mutagenic, co-mutagenic effects or gene conversion in microbial genotoxicity (Nakasono et al 2008). We recently reported that a 23 kHz magnetic field at 532 mT, which is approximately 80 times higher than the reference level in the ICNIRP guidelines, did not cause genotoxicity in vitro (Miyakoshi et al 2007).…”

Expression of Heat Shock Proteins in Human Fibroblast Cells under Magnetic Resonant Coupling Wireless Power Transfer

“…Induction heating cookers and mobile phones, which are primary examples of EMF-related technology, have been studied extensively using both dosimetric and experimental methods to evaluate their potential health risks [6][7][8][9][10][11]. In contrast, the potential health risks of EMFs from WPT using the resonant coupling phenomenon have already been discussed based on the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines and dosimetric evaluation [12][13][14][15], but there have been very few experimental evaluations [16,17].…”

Microarray analysis of human-derived cells exposed to intermediate frequency magnetic fields generated by an induction heating (IH) cooktop

“…Although the safety limit in the guidelines for intermediate frequency (IF) fields (300 Hz-10 MHz) of the International Committee of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) is about 27 µT [1], there is limited number of experimental evidence to support this standard as the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that there is a need for high quality research to assess biological interactions in the IF range [2].A few in vitro effects have been studied; IF magnetic fields at 532 µT and 6 mT did not cause genotoxicity and heat shock protein expressions [3,4], and the fields at 2 kHz and 0.91 mT, 20 kHz and 1.1 mT, a 60 kHz and 0.11 mT, did not exhibit mutagenic, co-mutagenic effects or gene conversion in microbial genotoxicity [5].…”