The Effect of Low Electromagnetic Field in the Cerebellar Layers of Mice

Abstract

The study on the effects of low electromagnetic fields (EMF) towards human health has been ongoing for over three decades but it is inconclusive still as to whether or not EMF is harmful to human health. This study was undertaken to look at the effects of EMF exposure on the morphology of the cerebellum of adult mice and offspring of pregnant mice which were exposed to EMF during their gestational period. The intensity of EMF used in this study was 1.2 mT and 0 mT for treatment group and control group, respectively. The adult mice were exposed to EMF 5 days consecutively, each exposure session lasting for 6 h. The prenatal exposure was done on gestation day 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15. Then, the thickness of Granular Layer (GL) and Molecular Layer (ML) were measured using an image analyzer. Statistical analysis showed that there was a significant decrease in the number of Purkinje Cells (PCS), a decrease in the thickness of both the GL and ML in the 1.2 mT adult treatment group (p<0.001). In the offspring exposed prenatally, the number of PCS were also significantly decreased (p<0.001), but significant thickening of the GL (p<0.05) was observed in the 1.2 mT treatment group. The results obtained in this study, suggest that the exposure to EMF can cause changes to the morphology of cerebellum of adult mice and also affects the development of mice cerebellum. Show more