Rats reproduce and rear litters during chronic exposure to 150-kV/m, 60-Hz electric fields.
Mature female rats and their subsequent litters were exposed either to 112- or to 150-kV/m, 60-Hz electric fields or sham-exposed for 19 h daily through pre-breeding, breeding, and rearing periods of experimentation. Exposed females mated in equal percentages and reared litters of equal numbers, and mean body masses of pups were the same as those of sham-exposed animals. Thus, experiments to investigate electric-field effects on reproduction and development in rats are feasible at effective field strengths of 112 and 150 kV/m.
Rommereim
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DN
Biology and Chemistry Department, Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, WA 99352.
Kaune
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WT
Anderson
L E
LE
Sikov
M R
MR
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development*; D004560:Electricity; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000528:radiation effects*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012098:Reproduction / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013997:Time Factors