engleski

Genotoxic effect of radiofrequency/microwave electromagnetic field (RF/MW EMF) in the earthworm Eisenia fetida

With the exponential increase in the use of wireless communication devices there is a growing concern about potential adverse health effects of radiofrequency/microwave electromagnetic field (RF/MW EMF). The influence of exposure to RF/MW EMF on DNA integrity was examined in specimens of earthworm species Eisenia fetida, which were exposed for 2 h in the Gigahertz Transversal Electromagnetic (GTEM) cell to EMFs at 900 MHz (mobile phone frequency) and field strengths of 10, 23, 41 and 120 V m-1. DNA damage was assessed in coelomocytes by the use of alkaline comet (single cell gel electrophoresis) assay which detects variety of DNA lesions, such as single and double DNA strand breaks and abasic sites, including the sites of uncompleted DNA repair. The effect of longer exposure time (4 h) and field modulation was investigated at 23 V m-1 as well. Unexposed earthworms kept in the dark under the same conditions were used as a control. Statistically significant increase in DNA damage measured by the comet assay was detected after exposure to all field strengths above 10 V m-1, and the prolonged exposure time and field modulation increased the genotoxic effect. Furthermore, temperature was monitored in earthworm tissue prior and after exposure to radiation at the strongest field strength (120 V m-1). During the radiation the temperature in earthworm did not raise more than 0.5 °C indicating that different mechanisms apart from hyperthermia are involved in the generation of the DNA damage. In conclusion, our results showed that exposure to investigated electromagnetic fields can induce significant DNA damage detectable by the comet assay. Our findings also clearly indicate that the earthworms may be useful indicator organisms for genotoxicity risks assessment.

genotoxicity assessment; comet assay; radiofrequency/microwave electromagnetic field; earthworm

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