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Developmental studies of hanford miniature swine exposed to 60‐Hz electric fields
Author(s) -
Sikov M. R.,
Rommereim D. N.,
Beamer J. L.,
Buschbom R. L.,
Kaune W. T.,
Phillips R. D.
Publication year - 1987
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.2250080303
Subject(s) - litter , offspring , teratology , biology , gestation , fetus , miniature swine , incidence (geometry) , zoology , physiology , pregnancy , toxicology , andrology , medicine , ecology , genetics , physics , optics
Evaluations of reproductive and developmental toxicology, including teratology, were included as part of a broad screening study in Hanford Miniature swine (HMS) to detect effects of exposure to electric fields. One group (E) was exposed to a uniform, vertical, 60‐Hz, 30‐kV/m electric field for 20 h/day, 7 days/week sham‐exposed (SE) swine were housed in a separate, environmentally equivalent building. The first generation (F 0 ) gilts were bred after 4 months of study; some were killed for teratologic assays at 100 days of gestation (dg), and the others produced an F 1 generation of offspring. The pooled incidence of terata in these litters (teratologic assays and live births) was similar in the E and SE groups. The F 0 females, which produced the F 1 generation, were bred again after 18 months of exposure and were killed at 100 dg. Malformation incidence in E litters (75%) was significantly greater than in SE litters (29%). No consistent differences in litter size, fetal mass, or mass of fetal organs were detected. The F 1 gilts were bred at 18 months of age; defective offspring were found in significantly more of the E litters (71 %) than in SE litters (33%). These F 1 females were bred again 10 months later and teratologic assays were performed on their second litters at 100 dg. The percentage of litters with malformed fetuses was essentially identical in the E and SE groups (70% and 73%, respectively). There appears to be an association between chronic exposure to a strong electric field and developmental effects in swine, although the change in incidence of malformations between generations and between the first and second breedings makes it impossible to conclude unequivocally that there is a cause‐and‐effect relation.