Table 7.1. PERCENT CHANGE IN HEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS
The results obtained in connection with the application of the electric field are shown in table
7.1. In each experiment, RBC on "day 5" was significantly less than on "day 3," regardless of whether
the interval between "day 3" and "day 5" was an exposure period or a nonexposure period. A decline in
Hct paralleled the RBC changes, but Hb showed no consistent changes. MCV showed a tendency to
decrease, but the other computed indices both increased, since the cell loss overshadowed any decrease
in hemoglobin concentration.
The trends in the computed indices, and especially the changes in RBC and Hct, were opposite
to those induced by our method of blood collection alone. It follows, therefore, that the applied electric
field had a physiological impact. The unique feature of the observed responses is that, for each
parameter, a change in the same direction occurred with both the F-ðnF and nF-ðF groups. An analysis
of variance confirmed that in all four experiments there was an effect associated with time but not with
the order of field application. This indicated that the animals responded to the change in their electrical
environment, not to the electric field itself.
There are two reports of the effects of EMF on the blood globulin (16, 17). When rats were
exposed to 3000 v/m at 1 KHz for 8 and 20 days (20 min./day), a reduction in coagulation activity
(expressed as a lengthening of the rethrombin time, a drop in plasma tolerance for heparin, and a
decrease in prothrombin consumption), and a rise in the thromboplastic and fibrinolytic activity of the
blood were found (16). We found that rats exposed to DC electric fields of 2.8-19.7 kv/m had altered
blood-protein distributions (17). The general trend was towards elevated albumin and decreased
gamma globulin levels (expressed as a percent of the total blood proteins).
One of the fundamental roles of the immune system is to protect the host from bacterial
infection. Both high- and low-frequency EMFs have been shown capable of impairing resistance to
infection (18, 19). Szmigielski et al. (18) studied the action of an EMF on the granulopoietic reaction in
rabbits that had been subjected to an acute staphylococcal infection. Rabbits were exposed to 3000
µW/cm2, 3 GHz, 6 hours/day, for 6 or 12 weeks, and then were infected intravenously with S. aureus
Wacherts. Four to six days after infection the 6-weeks exposed animals displayed stronger
granulocytosis than did the control animals, but this was reversed by the end of the observation period
ELECTROMAGNETISM & LIFE - 95