Determination of the effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields on the percentages of peripheral blood leukocytes and histology of lymphoid organs of the mouse.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of very weak, extremely low frequency (50 Hz) electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) on the relative spleen weight, lymphoid organ histology, peripheral blood leukocyte and alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase positive (ANAE- positive) lymphocyte percentages of the mouse. METHODS The study was carried out in Scientific Research and Application Center of Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey in 2005. A total of 120 Swiss albino mice were divided into 6 groups (20 in each group). The experimental animals were exposed to 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 microT flux intensities (rms) of EMF at 50 Hz for 40 days. RESULTS In the exposure groups with 20 animals, the body weight (BW) increased gradually in higher field intensities and reached at peak level in the 4 microT, and then slightly decreased. The relative spleen weight (% of the BW) was not affected. The ELF-EMF treatment did not cause any significant change in lymphocyte, monocyte and ANAE-positive lymphocyte ratios, whereas percentages of neutrophils and basophiles changed non-linearly. Any change in the lymphoid organ histology, which is attributable to the field effect, was not observed in the exposure groups. CONCLUSION Extremely low frequency-EMF exposure with the flux intensities between 1-5 microT for 40 days did not cause any effect on the relative spleen weight, lymphoid organ histology, leukocyte and ANAE-positive lymphocyte percentages of the mouse.