Effects of extremely-low-frequency electromagnetic fields on ion transport in several mammalian cells.

We have investigated the effects of sinusoidal electromagnetic fields (EMF) on ion transport (Ca2+, Na+, K+, and H+) in several cell types (red blood cells, thymocytes, Ehrlich ascites tumor cells, and HL60 and U937 human leukemia cells). The effects on the uptake of radioactive tracers as well as on the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), the intracellular pH (pHi), and the transmembrane potentsial (TMP) were studied. Exposure to EMF at 50 Hz and 100-2000 microT (rms) had no significant effects on any of these parameters. Exposure to EMF of 20-1200 microT (rms) at the estimated cyclotron magnetic resonance frequencies for the respective ions had no significant effects except for a 12-32% increase of the uptake of 42K within a window at 14.5-15.5 Hz and 100-200 microT (rms), which was found in U937 and Ehrlich cells but not in the other cell types.