Investigation of the effects of 50 Hz electromagnetic field on the lifespan of the red blood cells in vitro
Keywords:
Red blood cell, Erythrocyte, Osmotic fragility, Electromagnetic field, ELF-EMF
Abstract
In recent years, studies have indicated that electromagnetic fields (EMFs) may have harmful effects on human health. The effects on human health of the 50 Hz extremely low frequency EMF (ELF-EMF), which is often used in daily life, are still controversial. In our study, we investigated the in vitro effects of 50 Hz ELF-EMF on the lifespan of erythrocytes, which have no nucleus and organelles, and are therefore relatively more sensitive compared to other cells in the body to any harmful effect that may come from outside. Whole blood obtained from healthy volunteers was exposed to 50 Hz, 0.3 mT ELF-EMF over 35 days. After this time, erythrocytes (red blood cell, RBC) counts in blood, hematocrit (HCT) value, main corpuscular volume (MCV), and erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF), an indicator of aging, were examined. At the end of 35 days, RBC and HCT were decreased while MCV and EOF were increased in the blood samples of both the EMF-exposed group and the non-exposed group. However, while there were no statistically significant changes in terms of RBC counts, and HCT between the two groups, it was observed that MCV and EOF increased significantly less in the EMF-exposed group compared to the non-exposed group. These results suggest that 50 Hz ELF-EMF exposure does not affect the lifespan of erythrocytes in vitro, but it may extend erythrocytes’ lifecycles due to a reduction in osmotic fragility of the erythrocytes in in vivo conditions.
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References
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2. Cvetkovic D, Cosic I. Alterations of human electroencephalographic activity caused by multiple extremely low frequency magnetic field exposures. Med Biol Eng Comput. 2009; 47: 1063-1073.
3. Coskun Ö, Naziroglu M, Cömlekçi S, Özkorucuklu S. Effects of 50 Hertz-1 mT magnetic field on action potential in isolated rat sciatic nerve. Toxicol Ind Health. 2011; 27: 127-132.
4. Comlekci S, Coskun O. Influence of 50 Hz-1 mT magnetic field on human median nerve. Electromagn Biol Med. 2012; 31: 285-292.
5. Maresh CM, Cook MR, Cohen HD, Graham C, Gunn WS. Exercise testing in the evaluation of human responses to powerline frequency fields. Aviat Sp Environ Med. 1988; 59: 1139-1145.
6. Graham C, Cohen HD, Cook MR, Phelps J, Gerkovich M, Fotopoulos S. A doubleblind evaluation of 60-Hz field effects on human performance, physiology, and subjective state. Interact. Biol. Syst. with Static ELF Electr. Magn. Fields (Anderson LE, ed). Springer. 1987:471-486.
7. Van Deventer E. Environmental health criteria 238: Extremely low frequency fields. Environ Heal Criteria. 2007: 1-519.
8. Delgado JMR. Biological effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields. London: Spon Press; 1985.
9. Elmas O. Effects of electromagnetic field exposure on the heart: A systematic review. Toxicol Ind Health. 2016; 32: 76-82.
10. Elmas O, Comlekci S. Investigation of effects of short-term exposure to 50HZ magnetic field on central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems in rats. Bioelectromagnetics. 2015; 36: 420-429.
11. Repacholi M. Concern that “EMF” magnetic fields from power lines cause cancer. Sci Total Environ. 2012; 426: 454-458.
12. Teepen JC, Van Dijck JAAM. Impact of high electromagnetic field levels on childhood leukemia incidence. Int J Cancer. 2012; 131: 769-778.
13. De Vocht F. “Dirty electricity”: What, where, and should we care. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2010; 20: 399-405.
14. Rhoades RA, Bell DR. Medical Phisiology: Principles for Clinical Medicine. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2012.
15. Schmidt RF, Thews G. Human physiology. Springer; 1983.
16. Elmas O, Comlekci S, Koylu H. Effects of short-term exposure to powerline-frequency electromagnetic field on the electrical activity of the heart. Arch Environ Occup Heal. 2012; 67: 65-71.
17. Ministry of Health R of T. Ulusal kan ve kan ürünleri rehberi. 2011th ed. Ankara: Saglik Bakanligi; 2011.
18. Dasdag S, Sert C, Akdag Z, Batun S. Effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields on hematologic and immunologic parameters in welders. Arch Med Res. 2002; 33: 29-32.
19. Cakir DU, Yokus B, Akdag MZ, Sert C, Mete N. Alterations of hematological variations in rats exposed to extremely low frequency magnetic fields (50 Hz). Arch Med Res. 2009; 40: 352-356.
20. Bonhomme-Faivre L, Macé A, Bezie Y, Marion S, Bindoula G, Szekely AM, et al. Alterations of biological parameters in mice chronically exposed to low-frequency (50 Hz) electromagnetic fields. Life Sci. 1998; 62: 1271-1280.
21. Reale M, Kamal MA, Patruno A, Costantini E, D’Angelo C, Pesce M, et al. Neuronal cellular responses to extremely low frequency electromagnetic field exposure: implications regarding oxidative stress and neurodegeneration. PLoS One. 2014; 9: e104973.
22. Martínez-Sámano J, Torres-Durán P V, Juárez-Oropeza MA, Verdugo-Díaz L. Effect of acute extremely low frequency electromagnetic field exposure on the antioxidant status and lipid levels in rat brain. Arch Med Res. 2012; 43: 183-189.
23. Bułdak RJ, Polaniak R, Bułdak L, Zwirska-Korczala K, Skonieczna M, Monsiol A, et al. Short-term exposure to 50 Hz ELF-EMF alters the cisplatin-induced oxidative response in AT478 murine squamous cell carcinoma cells. Bioelectromagnetics. 2012; 33: 641-651.
24. Kiray A, Tayefi H, Kiray M, Bagriyanik HA, Pekcetin C, Ergur BU, et al. The effects of exposure to electromagnetic field on rat myocardium. Toxicol Ind Health. 2013; 29: 418-425.
25. Emre M, Cetiner S, Zencir S, Unlukurt I, Kahraman I, Topcu Z. Oxidative stress and apoptosis in relation to exposure to magnetic field. Cell Biochem Biophys. 2011; 59: 71-77.
26. Yokus B, Cakir DU, Akdag MZ, Sert C, Mete N. Oxidative DNA damage in rats exposed to extremely low frequency electro magnetic fields. Free Radic Res. 2005; 39: 317-323.
27. Duan Y, Wang Z, Zhang H, He Y, Lu R, Zhang R, et al. The preventive effect of lotus seedpod procyanidins on cognitive impairment and oxidative damage induced by extremely low frequency electromagnetic field exposure. Food Funct. 2013; 4: 1252-1262.
28. Tasset I, Medina FJ, Jimena I, Agüera E, Gascón F, Feijóo M, et al. Neuroprotective effects of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields on a Huntington’s disease rat model: effects on neurotrophic factors and neuronal density. Neuroscience. 2012; 209: 54-63.
29. Raggi F, Vallesi G, Rufini S, Gizzi S, Ercolani E, Rossi R. ELF magnetic therapy and oxidative balance. Electromagn Biol Med. 2008; 27: 325-339.
30. Ciejka E, Jakubowska E, Zelechowska P, Huk-Kolega H, Kowalczyk A, Goraca A. [Effect of extremely low frequency magnetic field on glutathione in rat muscles]. Med Pr. 2014; 65: 343-349.
31. Li L, Xiong D-F, Liu J-W, Li Z-X, Zeng G-C, Li H-L. A cross-sectional study on oxidative stress in workers exposed to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields. Int J Radiat Biol. 2015; 91: 420-425.
32. de Groot MWGDM, Kock MDM, Westerink RHS. Assessment of the neurotoxic potential of exposure to 50Hz extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) in naïve and chemically stressed PC12 cells. Neurotoxicology. 2014; 44: 1-7.
Published
2021-01-18
How to Cite
(1)
Elmas, S.; Elmas, O.; Zeybek, A. Investigation of the Effects of 50 Hz Electromagnetic Field on the Lifespan of the Red Blood Cells in Vitro. European Journal of Biological Research 2021, 11, 177-188.
Section
Research Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
