Effects of 60-Hz Time-Varying Electric Fields on DNA Damage and Cell Viability Support Negligible Genotoxicity of the Electric Fields

• Published in: Journal of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 134 - 141
• Main Authors: Yoon, Yeo Jun, Li, Gen, Kim, Gyoo Cheon, Lee, Hae June, Song, Kiwon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: HeLa Cell; IMR90 Cell; Time-Varying Electric Field (EF); DNA Double-Strand Break (DSB); Apoptosis
• ISSN: 2671-7255; 2671-7263

The effect of a 60 Hz time-varying electric field was studied using a facing-electrode device (FED) and a coplanar-electrode device (CED) for further investigation of the genotoxicity of 60 Hz time-varying magnetic field (MF) from preceding research. Neither a single 30-minute exposure to the CED or to the FED had any obvious biological effects such as DNA double strand break (DSB) and apoptosis in cancerous SCC25, and HeLa cells, normal primary fibroblast IMR90 cells, while exposures of 60 Hz time-varying MF led to DNA damage with induced electric fields much smaller than those used in this experiment. Nor did repetitive exposures of three days or a continuous exposure of up to 144 hours with the CED induce any DNA damage or apoptosis in either HeLa or IMR90 cells. These results imply that the solitary electric field produced by time-varying MF is not a major cause of DSBs or apoptosis in cancer or normal cells.