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Chronic exposure of rabbits to 0.5 and 5 mW/cm 2 2450‐MHz CW Microwave Radiation
Author(s) -
Chou ChungKwang,
Guy Arthur W.,
Borneman Lucinda E.,
Kunz Lawrence L.,
Kramar Piro
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
bioelectromagnetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.435
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-186X
pISSN - 0197-8462
DOI - 10.1002/bem.2250040107
Subject(s) - nuclear medicine , zoology , microwave , radiation exposure , anechoic chamber , specific absorption rate , absorption (acoustics) , materials science , medicine , chemistry , biology , physics , antenna (radio) , composite material , telecommunications , quantum mechanics , computer science , acoustics
Two groups of 16 male New Zealand rabbits were exposed to 2450‐MHz continuous wave microwave fields in two experiments of 90 days each. The incident power densities of the first and second experiment were 0.5 and 5 mW/cm 2 , respectively. During each study, 16 animals were adapted to a miniature anechoic chamber exposure system for at least 2 weeks, then 8 of them were exposed for 7 h daily, 5 days a week for 13 weeks, and the other 8 animals were sham exposed. The rabbits were placed in acrylic cages, and each was exposed from the top in an individual miniature anechoic chamber. Thermography showed a maximum specific absorption rate of 5.5 W/kg in the head and 7 W/kg in the back at 5‐mW/cm 2 incident power density. After each 7‐h exposure session, the animals were returned to their home cages. Food consumption in the exposure chamber and body mass were measured daily. Blood samples were taken before exposure and monthly thereafter for hematological, morphological, chemical, protein electrophoresis, and lymphocyte blast transformation studies. Eyes were examined for cataract formation. Finally, pathological examinations of 28 specimens of organs and tissues of each rabbit were performed. Statistically, there was a significant (P < .01) decrease only of food consumption during the 5‐mW/cm 2 exposure; other variables were not significantly different between exposed and control groups.