Adaptive Response in Mice Exposed to 900 MHz Radiofrequency Fields: Primary DNA Damage

The phenomenon of adaptive response (AR) in animal and human cells exposed to ionizing radiation is well documented in scientific literature. We have examined whether such AR could be induced in mice exposed to non-ionizing radiofrequency fields (RF) used for wireless communications. Mice were pre-exposed to 900 MHz RF at 120 µW/cm2 power density for 4 hours/day for 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days and then subjected to an acute dose of 3 Gy γ-radiation. The primary DNA damage in the form of alkali labile base damage and single strand breaks in the DNA of peripheral blood leukocytes was determined using the alkaline comet assay. The results indicated that the extent of damage in mice which were pre-exposed to RF for 1 day and then subjected to γ-radiation was similar and not significantly different from those exposed to γ-radiation alone. However, mice which were pre-exposed to RF for 3, 5, 7 and 14 days showed progressively decreased damage and was significantly different from those exposed to γ-radiation alone. Thus, the data indicated that RF pre-exposure is capable of inducing AR and suggested that the pre-exposure for more than 4 hours for 1 day is necessary to elicit such AR

Cytogenetic analysis of the effects of 2.5 and 10.5 GHz microwaves on human lymphocytes

The biological effects of microwaves on living organisms remain highly controversial. Although some reports have suggested that microwaves may be directly or indirectly genotoxic, a direct action is unlikely because the low energy of microwave photons makes them unable to cause single-strand breaks in DNA. In this work, we examined the possible clastogenic properties of microwaves (2.5 and 10.5 GHz) on blood lymphocytes in vitro by monitoring the frequency of chromosomal aberrations. We also investigated whether blood cells showed increased radiosensitivity or radioresistance when pretreated with the microwaves and then irradiated with gamma radiation. There was no significant difference in the frequency of chromosomal aberrations between cells which had or had not been treated with microwaves. Control cells had a mean frequency of 0.013 aberrations per cell compared to 0.010 and 0.011 aberrations per cell in the microwave-exposed samples. Nor was there any alteration in the radiosensitivity of cells pretreated with microwaves. Gamma irradiated cells showed a mean frequency of 0.279 aberrations per cell compared to 0.343 and 0.310 aberrations per cell in samples pretreated with microwaves. However, cell mortality increased markedly after exposure to microwaves. The results suggest that microwaves do not interact directly or indirectly with chromosomes, although they may target other cell structures, such as cell membranes