A shocking surprise: High voltage + rats = ozone, reopens power-l...( RICHLAND Wash.-- Rats subjected to ext...)

It is the first experiment to conclusively link an electromagnetic field with a health-adverse chemical effect in the presence of an animal, said Steven Goheen, a scientist at the Department of Energy lab and lead author of a paper published in the current issue of the journal Bioelectromagnetics.

"All this time, we were looking in the wrong place," Goheen said. "We had been looking inside animals for an effect from the electromagnetic fields. Now it appears that the danger is in the air surrounding animals that are near a large electromagnetic field."

Electromagnetic fields are present in devices that use or carry electricity. Goheen and colleagues report that the ozone was produced when rats were present during a "corona discharge," an uncommon phenomenon in which electrons escape from a sharp surface of an electrical conductor at high voltage.

The researchers placed rats in a Plexiglas cage hooked up to a device that produced 10 kilovolts, or roughly the power of air ionizers marketed as health aids. In an empty cage, the ozone level peaked at 22 parts per billion with or without a corona discharge. When the animals were present and a centimeter from the corona source an electrode inserted through the top of the cage ozone levels were high, more than 200 parts per billion, or double the amount considered toxic at chronic exposure in human beings. The ozone was flushed from the cage quickly for measurements, and the rats were unharmed.

The electric field used in the rat experiments is greater than that of a casual passer-by near any high voltage power line, Goheen said, the distance being the key consideration. "Distance
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Contact: Bill Cannon
cannon@pnl.gov
509-375-3732
DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
9-Feb-2004