Effects of high‐frequency electromagnetic fields on DNA strand breaks using comet assay method

Abstract We investigated whether exposure to high‐frequency electromagnetic fields causes DNA damage in cells, using the alkaline comet assay. The exposure device made for this study used a TE 01 circular waveguide operating at a frequency of 2.45 GHz. Cells of the human brain tumor‐derived MO54 cell line were exposed to an electromagnetic field (input power: 7.8 W, average SAR in the middle well of an annular culture plate: CW 50 W/kg) for 2 hours and the tail moments of the cells in the inner, middle, and outer wells of the plate were compared with those of sham‐exposed cells. There was no significant difference between the high‐frequency electromagnetic field‐exposed groups and the sham‐exposed groups. Three studies performed under the same conditions gave similar results. Next, cells were exposed to a stronger electromagnetic field (input power: 13 W, average SAR in the middle well: CW 100 W/kg) for 2 hours and compared with sham‐exposed cells. There was also no significant difference in the tail moments of cells in the inner, middle, and outer wells of the plate in the high‐frequency electromagnetic field‐exposed groups and the sham‐exposed groups. These findings suggest that a high‐frequency electromagnetic field does not cause direct DNA damage, and does not induce DNA strand breaks, even at a SAR of 100 W/kg. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 141(4): 9–15, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10075