Low level microwave exposure decreases the number of male germ cells and affect vital organs of Sprague Dawley rats

Abstract

The effects of 2.45 GHz microwave (MW) radiation on the vital tissues of Sprague Dawley rats were investigated. The various tissues assessed through histopathological assay were liver, kidney, heart, testis, ovary, fallopian tube, prostate, seminal vesicle and epididymis. The animals were exposed to various level of Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) which were 0 (control), 0.48, 0.95, 1.43, 1.91 and 2.39 W/kg using the microwave generator, model ER660E, Serial No MX704CCR from Toshiba UK Ltd for maximum period of ten minutes. From the results it was observed that the kidney and ovary were the most affected tissues in the female animals exposed to 2.45 GHz MW radiation when compared to the control. Hyperchromasia was observed in the ovary of the animals exposed to MW radiation. Vascular/glomerular congestion, interstitial spaces hemorrhage and tubular cells cloudiness was observed in the kidney. In the male animals, the testis and liver were the most affected organs when compared with control. There was reduction in the number of germ cells and cell disorganization observed from the testis of exposed group. The degree of reduction in the number of the germ cells varies with SARs, highest reduction was observed in the group V exposed to 2.39 W/kg which suggest that MW radiation has the potential to affects male fertility adversely. Oodema, cloudiness, glomeruli congestion was observed in the liver. There is no significant proof that the microwave radiation at this study frequency produces pathologic effects on the tissue studied except for the decrease in the number of germ cells and modification of some organs.

Effects of Intermediate Frequency (150 kHz) Electromagnetic Radiation on the Vital Organs of Female Sprague Dawley Rats

“…However, histopathological examination of the livers of the EMR group showed mild lymphocytic infiltrates and haemorrhages in some animals, indicating possible liver injury or infection. This observation is consistent with reports that exposure to EMR from mobile phones/microwaves has adverse effects on the liver [36][37][38][39]. The reason for this has been suggested to be that EMR affects the cell membranes of liver hepatocytes and causes cellular damage through the action of reactive oxidative species (ROS).…”

The thermal effect of 2.45 GHz microwave radiation on rat testes

“…Examination by electron microscopy showed diffuse degenerative changes, such as vacuolisation of cytoplasm and damaged organelles in germ cells and Sertoli cells, detachment of the adjacent Sertoli cells and interrupted intercellular junctions between the adjacent endothelial cells in blood capillaries. Histopathological changes observed in the present study are consistent with other relevant studies, where the authors also recorded cellular vacuolisation, reduction in the number of germ cells and cellular disorganization (Ribeiro et al 2007;Usikalu et al 2010), severing of the spermatogenic cells (El-Bediwi et al 2011), degeneration and necrotization of the cells of the germinal epithelium, and a decrease in Sertoli cells (Khayyat 2011). At the level of electron microscopy, major mitochondrial damage has been also found (Tenorio et al 2012).…”

Cancer risks from chest radiography of young adults: A pilot study at a health facility in South West Nigeria

“…Data on the risks of cancer induction from low dose ionizing radiation can be found in [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] . Beyond cancer induction other radiation risks have been reported [15] , [16] , [17] .…”