ROLE OF MODULATION ON THE EFFECT OF MICROWAVES ON ORNITHINE DECARBOXYLASE ACTIVITY IN L929 CELLS

The effect of 835 MHz microwaves on the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in L929 murine cells was investigated at an SAR of ∼2.5 W/kg. The results depended upon the type of modulation employed. AM frequencies of 16 Hz and 60 Hz produced a transient increase in ODC activity that reached a peak at 8 h of exposure and returned to control levels after 24 h of exposure. In this case, ODC was increased by a maximum of 90% relative to control levels. A 40% increase in ODC activity was also observed after 8 h of exposure with a typical signal from a TDMA digital cellular telephone operating in the middle of its transmission frequency range (∼840 MHz). This signal was burst modulated at 50 Hz, with approximately 30% duty cycle. By contrast, 8 h exposure with 835 MHz microwaves amplitude modulated with speech produced no significant change in ODC activity. Further investigations, with 8 h of exposure to AM microwaves, as a function of modulation frequency, revealed that the response is frequency dependent, decreasing sharply at 6 Hz and 600 Hz. Exposure with 835 MHz microwaves, frequency modulated with a 60 Hz sinusoid, yielded no significant enhancement in ODC activity for exposure times ranging between 2 and 24 h. Similarly, exposure with a typical signal from an AMPS analog cellular telephone, which uses a form of frequency modulation, produced no significant enhancement in ODC activity. Exposure with 835 MHz continuous wave microwaves produced no effects for exposure times between 2 and 24 h, except for a small but statistically significant enhancement in ODC activity after 6 h of exposure. Comparison of these results suggests that effects are much more robust when the modulation causes low-frequency periodic changes in the amplitude of the microwave carrier. Bioelectromagnetics 18:132–141, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.