Lymphomas in E mu-Pim1 transgenic mice exposed to pulsed 900 MHZ electromagnetic fields.
Whether radiofrequency (RF) fields are carcinogenic is controversial; epidemiological data have been inconclusive and animal tests limited. The aim of the present study was to determine whether long-term exposure to pulse-modulated RF fields similar to those used in digital mobile telecommunications would increase the incidence of lymphoma in E mu-Pim1 transgenic mice, which are moderately predisposed to develop lymphoma spontaneously. One hundred female E mu-Pim1 mice were sham-exposed and 101 were exposed for two 30-min periods per day for up to 18 months to plane-wave fields of 900 MHz with a pulse repetition frequency of 217 Hz and a pulse width of 0.6 ms. Incident power densities were 2.6-13 W/m2 and specific absorption rates were 0.008-4.2 W/kg, averaging 0.13-1.4 W/kg. Lymphoma risk was found to be significantly higher in the exposed mice than in the controls (OR = 2.4. P = 0.006, 95% CI = 1.3-4.5). Follicular lymphomas were the major contributor to the increased tumor incidence. Thus long-term intermittent exposure to RF fields can enhance the probability that mice carrying a lymphomagenic oncogene will develop lymphomas. We suggest that such genetically cancer-prone mice provide an experimental system for more detailed assessment of dose-response relationships for risk of cancer after RF-field exposure.
Repacholi
M H
MH
Royal Adelaide Hospital, Australia.
Basten
A
A
Gebski
V
V
Noonan
D
D
Finnie
J
J
Harris
A W
AW
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D005260:Female; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000209:etiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000209:etiology*; D009857:Oncogenes; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D051573:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-pim-1
D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; C496636:Pim1 protein, mouse; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D051573:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-pim-1