Dominant lethal studies in male mice after exposure to a 50 Hz magnetic field

Abstract

The potential mutagenicity of power frequency magnetic fields was investigated using a dominant lethal assay in mice. A total of 42 male mice were exposed for 8 weeks to a 50 Hz sinusoidal magnetic field at 10 mT (rms) and 47 males acted as simultaneous cage controls. Each male was subsequently mated with two females on weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 post-exposure. The numbers of pregnant females, corpora lutea, and live and dead implants were recorded. Multiple logistic regression analyses examined the effects of exposure on pregnancy rate, pre-implantation survival and post-implantation survival. There were no statistically significant differences in overall response between exposed and control groups, nor was there any significant effect of exposure in any post-exposure week. Thus, exposure to power frequency magnetic fields at 10 mT for the approximate period of spermatogenesis did not appear to induce dominant lethal mutation in the germ cells of male mice.