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

The extremely low-frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (MFs) originating from equipment used for assisted reproduction, umbilical cord-blood and peripheral-blood stem cell transplantation, transfusion, and hemodialysis were measured. The ELF-MF values were 0.1–1.2 μT on clean benches, <0.1–8.0 μT on inverted microscopes, <0.1–13.6 μT in CO2 incubators, 4.3–11.5 μT in centrifuges, 0.4–18.8 μT in programmed freezers, <0.1–0.3 μT in deep freezers, 0.3–3.1 μT on cell separators, and 0.2–0.9 μT in hemodialysers. Frequencies of MFs were nominally 60 Hz, but some devices showed non-sinusoidal 120 Hz. Such MFs can be reduced by shielding the sources or altering the protocols employed. Bioelectromagnetics 26:69–73, 2005. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.