Post-continuous whole body exposure of rabbits to 650 MHz electromagnetic fields: effects on liver, spleen, and brain

Abstract This study deals with the effects of post (12 or 18 months) whole body continuous (2 years) exposure of rabbits to 650 MHz electromagnetic fields (EMF) that are characteristic of those produced by broadcasting stations, on body weight and body mass, on the morphology of liver, spleen and brain, and on apoptosis rates and glycogen distribution in the liver. Two groups of rabbits were continuously exposed for 2 years to EMF of 650 MHz followed by 12 months (group 1) or 18 months (group 2) of post-exposure; a third group (group 3) was sham exposed. It was shown that the changes in apoptosis rates were conditional during the time of exposure, but not on a specific organ and that the whole body continuous exposure gave rise to modifications whose types and intensities were related to the time of post-exposure (12 or 18 months, respectively), the type of organ, and the individual animal. A number of effects were observed only in group 1, and not in group 2, which suggests some kind of adaptive response or of long-term recovery in the rabbits following continuous exposure to 650 MHz EMF.