Continuous Exposure of Rodents to 10 to the 8th Pulses of Electromagnetic Radiation

Abstract : The experiment tests the hypothesis that rapid rises and falls of electric and magnetic fields would adversely affect vital ionic and electrochemical processes at the molecular level in biological systems. Rodents were exposed to 10 to the 8th power pulses from the AFRRI electromagnetic pulse (EMP) simulator which provides five pulses per second with a peak electric field intensity of 447 kV/m, a 5-nsec rise time and 550-nsec 1/e fall time. When results obtained from EMP exposed animals were compared with those from controls no changes were observed in the number and production of rat bone marrow cells, the concentration of circulating neutrophils, lymphocytes and erythrocytes. Reticulocytes appear to have been elevated and platelets decreased; however, both counts remained within acceptable levels. No incidence of mammary tumors was observed in the female Sprague-Dawley rats. In leukemia-prone AKR/J male mice, leukemia did not occur earlier in EMP exposed animals, nor was the fraction of leukemic mice greater in this group when compared with the nonirradiated control mice.