Oxidative fluctuations in rat blood exposed to GSM, UMTS and LTE multi-frequency electromagnetic field

Abstract

The paper presents results of research on effects of long term continuous animals exposure to multi-frequency electromagnetic fields of the mobile communication standards (GSM, UMTS and LTE). Prooxidant and antioxidant activity was investigated in the blood of exposed Wistar rats. The animals were continuously exposed to electromagnetic fields at frequencies of 1800, 2100 and 2600 MHz with the total power density of 250 muW/cm2 (GSM-20%; UMTS-20%; LTE-60%). Peripheral blood samples were taken from the affected and control rats after the decapitation at the end of each month of exposure. Fluctuations in indices of lipid peroxidation (diene conjugates) and antioxidant activity (enzyme, catalases) were observed at all stages of the exposure. The modulation effect of prooxidant and antioxidant activity in animals blood serum is suggested to depend on the amount of formed reactive oxygen species, and it may be caused by the direct effect of electromagnetic fields. The modulation effect of long-term continuous exposure to multi-frequency electromagnetic fields of mobile communication base stations on the blood lipid peroxidation may cause unfavorable consequences, which requires further study. The obtained results indicate necessity to take into account the detected modulating effect that can affect the level of reactive oxygen species.