Blood Parameter Responses in Mice (Mus musculus) Exposed to an Electromagnetic Field

Abstract

Extremely low frequencies of electromagnetic radiation are omnipresent where humans reside. These electromagnetic radiations are in the form of electrical power lines, transformers, electric hardware, and many household devices, such as hairdryers, electrical blankets and devices used in medicine and industry. The biological effects of extremely low frequencies of electrometric fields (ELF-EMF) at the cellular level have been linked with mice blood and immunological parameters. An understanding of cellular biological effects of ELF-EMF, particularly in the long term, is still lacking. The aim of this study thus was to measure the effects of ELF-EMF on 15 blood parameters in 4-week old healthy male mice (Mus musculus); of the BALB/c strain. Blood parameters included the number of erythrocytes, leucocytes and four lymphocyte cluster of differentiation markers, and other related parameters. The expected outcome of the study is to show that ELF-EMF has an effect on blood parameters of mice. The two research questions pertaining to this study were: 1. To what extent does one-week exposure to ELF-EMF influence blood parameters in the BALB/c N1H mouse strain? 2. To what extent does twelve-week exposure to ELF-EMF influence blood parameters in the BALB/c N1H mouse strain?