Continuous Exposure of Rodents to 10 Pulses of Electromagnetic Radiation

The present experiment tests the hypothesis that rapid rises and falls of electric and magnetic fields would adversely affect vital ionic and electrochemical processes at the molecular level in biological systems. Rodents were exposed to 10 pulses from the AFRRI electromagnetic pulse (EMP) simulator which provides five pulses per second with a peak electric field intensity of 447 kV/m, a 5-nsec rise time and 550-nsec l/e fall time. When results obtained from EMP exposed animals were compared with those from controls no changes were observed in the number and production of rat bone marrow cells, the incidence in chromosomal aberrations in mitotic bone marrow cells, the concentration of circulating neutrophils, lymphocytes and erythrocytes. Reticulocytes appear to have been elevated and platelets decreased; however, both counts remained within acceptable levels. No incidence of mammary tumors was observed in the female Sprague-Dawley rats, in leukemia-prone AKR/J male mice, leukemia did not occur earlier in EMP exposed animals, nor was the fraction of leukemic mice greater in this group when compared with the nonirradiated control mice. The present data do not indicate an acute biological hazard to rodents from EMP exposures. The possibility for the development of late effects and malignancies will only be determined during the second half of the rodents life-span. The negative results of the present study appear to make such occurrences less likely.