Results of a Long-Term Low-Level Microwave Exposure of Rats

This paper summarizes the results of experimental research on biological effects induced by electromagnetic exposure to low-level microwaves. We exposed four-month-old Wistar albino rats during 21 months to two different microwave frequencies and exposure modes, 2 h a day, seven days a week. In order to assess possible biological effects of microwaves, we selected among others the following parameters: leucocytes, erythrocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and mortality rate. After three and eight months of exposure, we found a statistically significant difference of about 20% between the 970-MHz continuous wave group and sham-exposed group regarding the monocytes in both considered periods. After 14 and 18 months of exposure, we observed a significant increase in white blood cells and neutrophils of about 15% and 25%, respectively. Lymphocytes fell down after 18 months of exposure with about 15% compared to the sham-exposed group. No other statistically significant differences were found, except for minor changes with little biological significance. The most obvious effect we detected is the increase in mortality rate of the exposed groups with respect to the sham-exposed group after 21 months of exposure at the age of 25 months. This increase even increases when observing rats until the age of 28 months: mortality in exposed groups then reaches almost twice the value observed in the sham-exposed group.