The Low-Frequency Electric Fields Induced in a Spherical Cell Including Its Nucleus

Abstract

After a review of work leading to the determination of the electric field induced in the human body when exposed to the electromagnetic field near an extremely-low-frequency high-voltage transmission line, attention is directed to a spherical cell exposed to the electric field in the body. Following a brief discussion of the potential biological significance of the study, the electric field acting on the surface of the cell and the electric field induced by it in the region between the outer cell membrane and the nuclear envelope are determined analytically, as is the field induced in the nucleus. It is shown, as an example, that when the body is exposed to a 60-Hz axial electric field of 2100 V/m, the field induced in the nucleus of a cell in the body is 0.27 nV/m when the radius of the nucleus is half that of the cell. The biologically interesting electric field along the outer surface of the nuclear envelope is in this case 2.7 ßV/m. The simple analytical formulas can be applied to other values of the parameters, such as varying sizes of the nucleus, and to power-line fields of different magnitude.