Exposure to low-level magnetic fields causes DNA damage in rat brain cells, resear...( s at work. He believes that the fields...)

Lai and Singh hypothesize that exposure to magnetic fields affects the balance of iron in certain cells, leading to an increase in free iron within the cell. That free iron undergoes a chemical reaction, which releases "free radicals," or charged atoms that attack cell structures, including DNA, lipids and proteins.

To test the idea, the researchers gave some of the rats drugs that either neutralize free radicals or decrease free iron before exposing the animals to the magnetic field. The treatments supported the hypothesis, effectively blocking the effects of the fields and protecting the rats' brain cell DNA from damage.

One significant implication of this is that certain types of cells with higher iron content such as brain cells may be more susceptible to damage from electromagnetic fields.

DNA damage in and of itself isn't unusual all cells experience some DNA damage through normal wear and tear and repair themselves. Problems can occur when that damage is significantly increased because that also increases the likelihood of a mistake being made in the repair process, resulting in a mutation that could lead to such diseases as cancer.

Some types of DNA damage are more worrisome than others. A break on one side of DNA's ladder-like double helix is relatively easy to fix. Repairs are much harder if both sides of the helix are broken, and, as a result, the probability of a mutation is substantially higher. Lai and Singh found both single and double strand breaks in the exposed brain cells.

Lai said people shouldn't be overly alarmed by his research results. But they do need to be aware of the possibility that low-level electromagnetic fields might be harmful, especially given the fact that electrical devices are such a central componen
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Contact: Rob Harrill
rharrill@u.washington.edu
206-543-2580
University of Washington
18-Feb-2004