Chronic exposure of primates to 60-Hz electric and magnetic fields: III. Neurophysiologic effects

✍ Scribed by Robert Dowman; Jonathan R. Wolpaw; Richard F. Seegal; Saty Satya-Murti

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 794 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0197-8462
• DOI: 10.1002/bem.2250100308

✦ Synopsis

The neurophysiologic effects of combined 60-Hz electric (E) and magnetic (B) fields, of magnitudes comparable to those produced by high-voltage powerlines, were investigated in 10 monkeys (Mucacu nernestrinu). Six animals (experimental group) were each exposed to three different levels of E and B fields: 3 kV/m and 0. I G , 10 kV/m and 0.3 G , and 30 kV/m and 0.9 G . Field exposures were preceded and followed by sham exposures, during which factors of field generation were present (e.g., heat, vibration, noise, etc.) without E and B fields. Each of the five segments (i.e., the three exposure segments and the initial and final sham exposure segments) lasted 3 weeks. Animals were exposed for 18 h/day (fields on at 1600 h, off at 1000 h). Four other animals (external control group) were given sham exposure for the entire 15-week period. Auditory, visual, and somatosensory evoked potentials were recorded twice a week, during the daily 6-h field-off period.

Eand B-field exposure had no effect on the early or mid-latency evoked potential components, suggesting that exposure at these levels has no effect on peripheral or central sensory afferent pathways. However, there was a statistically significant decrease in the amplitudes of late components of the somatosensory evoked potential during the IOkV/m and 0.3 G , and 30 kV/m and 0.9 G exposure levels. This result is possibly related to the opiate antagonist effect of electromagnetic field exposure reported by others.