Power-frequency magnetic fields at 50 Hz do not affect fertility and development in rats and mice

ABSTRACT

In the present study, the effects of power-frequency magnetic fields (PF-MF) on fertility and development were investigated in rats and mice. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats and C57BL/6J mice were divided into four groups: a sham exposure group and 30-µT, 100-µT and 500-µT PF-MF exposure groups. The rats were exposed for 24 weeks, and the exposure time for mice ranged from 18 d to 12 weeks, dependent on the different investigated end points. The rats and mice were exposed for 20 h/d. Plasma hormone levels in rats and mice were analyzed. Furthermore, pregnancy rates and implanted embryos were recorded in pregnant mice. Finally, the neonatal growth of mice was evaluated. The results showed that none of the three intensities affected the body weight and paired ovary weight in female rats. Meanwhile, none of the three intensities affected the body weight, weights of paired testes, weights of paired epididymis and sperm count in male rats. Similarly, no significant differences were found in plasma sex hormone levels between the different PF-MF exposure groups and the sham exposure group. In addition, the pregnancy rates and implanted embryos were not significantly different between the four groups. Moreover, PF-MF exposures had no effects on either the number of fetuses in pregnant mice or the growth and development of neonatal mice.

KEYWORDS:

• Power-frequency magnetic fields
• fertility
• sex hormone
• pregnancy
• development

Author Contributions

GR and JL conceived of and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. XL and YZ conceived of and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data and contributed the analysis tools. BW and JZ conceived of and designed the experiments and contributed the analysis tools. MH performed the animal experiments. CC conceived of and designed the experiments and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant [51607163] and [51707076] and the Science and Technology Project of the State Grid Corporation of China under grant [GY71-16-008].