title: The effect of weak 50 Hz magnetic fields on the number of free oxygen radicals in rat lymphocytes in vitro.
abstract: The aim of the work was verification of the hypothesis that weak power frequency (50 Hz) magnetic fields (MF) affected the number of free oxygen radicals in living biological cells and that these changes could be qualitatively explained by the radical pair mechanism. The experiments were performed on rat lymphocytes. One-hour exposure to 50 Hz MF at 20, 40, or 200 microT flux densities was performed inside a pair of Helmholtz coils with axis along or crosswise to the Earth's static MF. Iron ions (FeCl2) were used as a stimulator of the oxidation processes. Oxygen radicals were measured by fluorimetry using a DCF-DA fluorescent probe. Only in the lymphocytes exposed at 40 microT MF directed along the Earth's static MF there was a decrease of fluorescence in relation to non-exposed samples. Our observation seems to confirm the hypothesis that low level power frequency MF affects oxidative processes which occur in living biological cells and that this effect can be explained by the radical pair mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Physical Hazards Department, The Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine Lodz, Lodz, Poland. zmyslmar@imp.lodz.pl
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zmyslony
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rajkowska
authors.forename: Pawel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mamrot
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Politanski
authors.forename: Jolanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jajte
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D005609:Free Radicals / Q000378:metabolism; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008297:Male; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species