Preliminary investigations of the effects of low-level microwave radiation on spontaneous motor activity in rats.
Male rats were irradiated with microwaves of 10.7 GHz (cw), 3 GHz (cw), or 3 GHz (pw) for 185 hr with power densities of approximately 1 mW/cm-2. Spontaneous activity was automatically measured and analyzed in five amplitude classes, after irradiation had ceased. No differences were found between the irradiated and the similarly treated nonirradiated control rats. A few rats were exposed for 17 days to 3 GHz (pw) at 25 mW/cm-2. Here, again, the spontaneous motor activity was not affected. Before irradiation, these rats had been trained to constant peak performance in a 2-m long runway. Their running times remained unchanged by this treatment regimen and did not differ from those of nonirradiated control rats. So far, no deleterious effects of the microwave radiation used has been detected.
D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000293:injuries*; D008297:Male; D008872:Microwaves / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009043:Motor Activity; D051381:Rats