Perinatal exposure of rats to 2450-MHz CW microwave radiation: Effects on lymphocytes

摘要

Groups of rats were exposed in utero from day six of gestation through 40 to 41 days of age for four hours a day in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment under far-field conditions to 2450-MHz (CW) in an electrically anechoic chamber. An equal number of sham-exposed animals, maintained under the same environmental conditions, served as controls. Two experiments have been performed at this frequency at a power density of 5 mW cm”. Specific absorption rates (SARs) for rats of different ages were determined by twin-well calorimetry and were found to range from 0.7 to 4.7 mW g. Rats were weighed at selected intervals to determine if microwaves affect growth. At 20 to 21 and 40 to 41 days of age, rats were bled and complete blood-cell counts were done. In addition, the in vitro blastogenic response of blood and lymph-node lymphocytes were measured by H-thymidine incorporation into DNA following stimulation of cells with T- and B-lymphocyte mitogens. There were significant increases in the mitogen-stimulated response of both T- and B-lymphocytes from irradiated rats. There were no consistent changes, however, in peripheral blood-cell counts after exposure at this frequency. These results indicate that long-term exposure of rats in utero and through early life may result in increased response of lymphocytes to stimulation with mitogens in vitro.