Cell replication rates and processes concerning antibody production in vitro are not influenced by 2.45-GHz microwaves at physiologically normal temperatures.

Several contradictory papers concerning the effects of microwaves on living organisms and on in vitro cell suspensions have been published through the years. These papers are difficult to interpret, because temperature measurement data are often lacking. Reliable temperature measurements are important, because they enable one to determine whether the observed microwave effects are thermal or nonthermal. Therefore, a method was developed to investigate microwave effects on cellular processes, in which the temperature was precisely monitored during microwave treatment using a fiberoptic thermometer. This method involved the processes required for in vitro production of monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies are vital ingredients in (microwave-stimulated) immunostaining techniques and ELISAs, which have become important techniques in neuroscience. The effects of 2.45-GHz microwaves on mouse myeloma and (neural) hybridoma cell replication rates and on antibody production were investigated. In addition, the effects on the cell fusion abilities of spleen lymphocytes and myeloma cells and on in vitro immunization were studied. The results of this study show no effects of microwaves on either of the processes mentioned using exposure times up to 5 h a day at a physiologically normal temperature of 37 degrees C. It was concluded that the effects of 2.45-GHz microwaves detected at higher temperatures are thermal effects and that no indications for nonthermal 2.45-GHz microwave effects exist under the exposure conditions used in the present study.