Operant Behavior and Colonic Temperature of Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) during Microwave Irradiation.

摘要

Contemporary reports in the scientific and popular press of potentially hazardous effects of exposure to microwaves require substantiation because some Navy personnel contact a variety of microwave devices in communication, warning and weapons systems. Such putative effects preclude the use of man as a subject; hence, a series of experiments with other primates, monkeys, has been initiated. Research in our laboratory has established that microwave irradiation greater than 62 mW/sq cm disrupts behavior in rhesus monkeys. In an effort to extend the generality of this finding, squirrel monkeys are exposed to microwaves. The behavior of squirrel monkeys on a vigilance task was disrupted by 30- or 60-minute exposures to 50 mW/sq cm and higher power densities. This disruption increased with the increase in power density. Under both durations of exposure, behavior was not consistently perturbed until colonic temperature changes exceeded 1 C. Colonic temperatures regularly increased beginning at 10 mW/sq cm and were related in a nonlinear fashion to the power density with a marked acceleration between 40 and 50 mW/sq cm.