Open AccessAbsence of embryotoxic effects from low-level (nonthermal) exposure of rats to 100 MHz radiofrequency radiation.
Author(s) -
Joseph M. Lary,
David L. Conover,
Peggy H. Johnson
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of work, environment and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.621
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1795-990X
pISSN - 0355-3140
DOI - 10.5271/sjweh.2434
Subject(s) - fetus , nuclear medicine , litter , gestation , irradiation , radiation exposure , zoology , medicine , chemistry , pregnancy , biology , physics , genetics , nuclear physics , agronomy
Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to radio-frequency radiation at a frequency of 100 MHz and a power density of 25 mW/cm2 for 6 h 40 min daily on gestation days 6--11. The total exposure time was 40 h. The exposure resulted in a specific absorption rate of 0.4 W/kg. This value corresponds to the maximum permissible level for specific absorption rate in the 1982 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard for radiofrequency/microwave exposure. The exposure produced no increase in maternal colonic temperature. Irradiated rats did not differ from sham-irradiated rats with respect to the number of implantations per litter, percentage of implantations dead or resorbed, percentage of fetuses malformed. fetal weight, fetal crown-rump length, or fetal sex ratio. The irradiated fetuses had fewer minor skeletal variations than the controls. These results suggest that radiofrequency/microwave radiation is not teratogenic or embryotoxic for rats at the maximum permissible exposure level of the 1982 ANSI standard.