Effects of exposure of animals to ultra-wideband pulses.

Publications reporting biological effects of whole-animal exposures to ultra-wideband (UWB) pulses are reviewed. Conditions and results of the published studies are grouped by type of exposure: free-field, parallel-plate transmission line, and giga transverse electromagnetic cell (GTEM). The studies investigated the cardiovascular system, the nervous system, teratology, tumor production, and genotoxicity in different experimental animals, primarily rodents. Depending on the study, pulses had peak electric fields of 10 to 250 kV m(-1), durations of 0.8 to 8 ns, and rise times between 140 and 340 ps. In most cases only small, sometimes spurious, differences between exposed and nonexposed animals were seen. Effects on interaction with an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase and on long-term blood pressure were statistically significant in the studies reviewed.