Comparison of the Genotoxic Effects Induced by 50 Hz Extremely Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields and 1800 MHz Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields in GC-2 Cells

by | ElectroMagnetic Field Sensitivity

http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1667/RR13851.1

Comment;  1-3 milli-Tesla is not a strong field yet was enough at low frequencies of 50 Hz to damage DNA.  50 Hz is only used to communicate with submarines.   It should be kept in mind however, that in the US alternating current power runs at 60 Hz.  Most countries worldwide operate in the 50 Hz range.  Having a single smart meter is not as bad as living near a cluster of smart meters.  Bluetooth operates at a frequency of 2.45 Ghz with most commercial power outputs for ear buds in the range of 2.5 mW or 1 dBm.

Weixia Duan

Department of Occupational Health, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, People’s Republic of China

Published: February 17, 2015

[+] Author & Article Info

Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) and radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) have been considered to be possibly carcinogenic to humans. However, their genotoxic effects remain controversial. To make experiments controllable and results comparable, we standardized exposure conditions and explored the potential genotoxicity of 50 Hz ELF-EMF and 1800 MHz RF-EMF. A mouse spermatocyte-derived GC-2 cell line was intermittently (5 min on and 10 min off) exposed to 50 Hz ELF-EMF at an intensity of 1, 2 or 3 mT or to RF-EMF in GSM-Talk mode at the specific absorption rates (SAR) of 1, 2 or 4 W/kg. After exposure for 24 h, we found that neither ELF-EMF nor RF-EMF affected cell viability using Cell Counting Kit-8. Through the use of an alkaline comet assay and immunofluorescence against γ-H2AX foci, we found that ELF-EMF exposure resulted in a significant increase of DNA strand breaks at 3 mT, whereas RF-EMF exposure had insufficient energy to induce such effects. Using a formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (FPG)-modified alkaline comet assay, we observed that RF-EMF exposure significantly induced oxidative DNA base damage at a SAR value of 4 W/kg, whereas ELF-EMF exposure did not. Our results suggest that both ELF-EMF and RF-EMF under the same experimental conditions may produce genotoxicity at relative high intensities, but they create different patterns of DNA damage. Therefore, the potential mechanisms underlying the genotoxicity of different frequency electromagnetic fields may be different.

Dr. Raymond Oenbrink
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