Biological effects of exposure to static electric fields in humans and vertebrates: a systematic review

Petri, Anne-Kathrin; Schmiedchen, Kristina; Stunder, Dominik; Dechent, Dagmar; Kraus, Thomas; Bailey, Warren; Drießen, Sarah

doi:10.1186/s12940-017-0248-y

Cited by 49 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…The SEF intensity of 27.5 kV/m was close to the exposure limits of SEF specified in existing local or industry standards 6 , 7 , 19 ; 34.7 kV/m was almost the maximum intensity of SEF in the vicinity of ground generated by actual UHVDC transmission lines 3 – 5 ; 56.3 kV/m was a relatively high intensity and was about 2 times higher than the minimum intensity used in this study. Furthermore, results also showed that with the increase of voltage applied between two electrodes, the intensity of SEF inside the cages of sham exposure group had almost no change and the intensity was 0.28 ± 0.01 kV/m, which was close to the background level of SEF (0.1~0.3 kV/m) 20 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…The indirect influence of surface charges, such as piloerection and cutaneous stimulation, is another possible explanation of SEF biological effects 20 . When organisms were exposed to SEF, not only polarized charges will come into being on the surface of skin but also charged ions in body fluids will migrate directionally to the surface of skin.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Studies on effects of static electric field exposure on liver in mice

Lin

Liu

Xu³

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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With the development of ultra-high-voltage direct-current transmission, the intensity of static electric field (SEF) under transmission lines increased, which has aroused public attention on its potential health effects. In order to examine effects of SEF exposure on liver, institute of cancer research mice were exposed to SEF with intensities of 27.5 kV/m, 34.7 kV/m and 56.3 kV/m, respectively. In each intensity of SEF exposure, a corresponding sham exposure group was used. Several indices relating to liver function (aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT)) and oxidative stress (superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and malondialdehyde (MDA)) were tested after exposure of 7, 14, 21 and 35 days. Results showed that exposure to SEF with intensities of 27.5 kV/m and 34.7 kV/m for 35 days did not significantly influence any detected indices above. Under SEF exposure with intensity of 56.3 kV/m, the SOD activity in liver was significantly increased after exposure of 7 and 14 days. However, no significant increase was found in MDA content as well as the activities of AST and ALT between exposure group and sham exposure group during SEF exposure of 56.3 kV/m. It suggested that from three SEF intensities, only exposure to SEF with intensity of 56.3 kV/m (7 and 14 days) caused a temporary oxidative stress response in liver expressed by the increase in activity of SOD, but it did not produce oxidative damage. This biological effect may be related to the increase of mitochondrial membrane potential of hepatocytes caused by SEF exposure. When the membrane potential exceeds a threshold, Q cycle in mitochondria will be affected, which will result in an increase of superoxide anion concentration and ultimately an oxidative stress.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studies on effects of static electric field exposure on liver in mice

Lin

Liu

Xu³

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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“…It is indeed surprising that greater attention was not given by investigators to the confounding effects of electric fields from corona ion generators since a static electric field is known to be a mechanosensory stimulus to hair on the body surface. Recent systematic reviews of static-field research on vertebrates and invertebrates have confirmed that superficial sensory stimulation by static electric field is the mechanism by which static electric fields produce behavioral and physiological effects in humans, animals, and plants [ 127 , 128 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure of laboratory animals to small air ions: a systematic review of biological and behavioral studies

2018

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BackgroundAir ions are molecules of air that have become ionized—that is, they have either lost or gained an electrical charge. Past speculation has suggested that exposure to positive air ions may be harmful to one’s health, while exposure to negative air ions may be associated with beneficial health effects. Air ions arise from natural sources as well as direct-current transmission lines and commercial ionizers. Several recent clinical studies have suggested therapeutic effects of air ions on various types of depression at exposure levels 10- to 1000-fold higher than most previous human studies. The aim of this study was to assess the evidence from studies of laboratory animals for beneficial or adverse effects of air ions on health.MethodsSixty-two studies (1935–2015) in nine topics areas were evaluated for quality and potential systematic bias by ARRIVE guidelines. Standardized mean differences or proportional differences between exposed and control groups were computed for 44 studies to quantitatively assess the strength of the evidence for exposure-related effects.ResultsMany of the studies were conducted before 1990 and exhibited various reporting and methodological deficiencies, including small sample size, failure to control for the influence of potential confounding variables, lack of randomized assignment to treatment groups and blinded analyses, and statistical errors relating to treating group-exposed animals as individuals. The highest quality studies consistently reported no effects of exposure on any of the endpoints examined. There were no evident dose–response relationships within or across studies.ConclusionsExperimental studies of laboratory animals exposed to positive and negative air ions for minutes to years over a five-log unit range of intensities did not suggest any consistent or reliable effects on measures of behavior, learning and memory, neurotransmitters, tracheal function, respiratory infection, cardiovascular function, reproduction and growth, carcinogenesis, or other health endpoints. These data do not provide evidence of adverse or beneficial effects of air ion exposure on health, and did not suggest any biological mechanism of interaction, except perhaps for mechanosensory stimulation of body surfaces by static electric fields at high air ion concentrations.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12938-018-0499-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Lv X, et al, 2014, proved that exposure to the 0.86 μT magneticfield did not cause problems on the patient's blood vessels. Petri et al, 2017, stated that exposure to static magnetic fields is not proven to cause biological effects .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%