Effects of low level electromagnetic field exposure at 2.45 GHz on rat cornea

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effects of low level electromagnetic field (low level-EMF) exposure, as frequently encountered in daily life, on the normal rat cornea using histological and stereological method.

Methods: Twenty-two adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: Study group (n = 11) and control group (n = 11). Rats in the study group were exposed to 2.45 GHz microwave (MW) radiation (11.96 ± 0.89 V/m), 0.25 W/kg specific absorption rate (SAR) for 2 hours each day for 21 days. The corneal thickness and the anterior epithelium corneal thickness were measured using two different methods.

Results: Using the histological method, the mean corneal thicknesses in the control and study group were 278.9 ± 54.5 μm, and 272.4 ± 85.6 μm, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups (p > 0.05). The anterior corneal epithelium thickness was 28.1 ± 4.9 μm in the control group and 31.7 ± 5.5 μm in the study group. There were statistically differences between the groups with regard to the thickness of anterior epithelium (p < 0.05). In the measurement made by the stereological method, the percentage of the cornea occupied by anterior corneal epithelium was 15.94% in the control group and 17.9% in the study group. Despite the fact that there was a relation between increased anterior epithelial area (AEA) and radiation exposure, no statistically significant relationship in area fraction of each compartment was found between the control and study groups.

Conclusions: Results of this preliminary study show that exposure to MW radiation might cause alterations in the rat cornea.

Keywords::

• Low level electromagnetic field exposure
• microwave radiation
• cornea
• rat

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Vet. Med. Dr Neslihan Ormanci and Vet. Med. Dr Ismail Aydin, Director of Veterinary Control and Research Institute, Samsun. We would also like to thank Prof. Dr Guven Onbilgin, who helped us with the electrical field measurements. A part of this study was presented in the Third ICLAS East Mediterranean Meeting and The XV ICLAS General Assembly held in Istanbul, 13–15 June 2011.

Declaration of interest The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.