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Electric and magnetic fields and health

index/glossary | EMFs At A Glance | EMF The Facts (pdf)
  • What are EMFs
    • Terminology – an introduction
    • Electric fields
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      • “EMF Commercial”
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        • 400 kV – specific cases
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        • Current
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        • Height above ground
        • Conductor bundle
        • Phasing
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        • Balance within circuit
        • Ground resistivity
        • Two parallel lines
      • Calculating and measuring fields from power lines
        • Geometries of power lines
        • Raw data
        • On-line calculator
      • Fields from power lines – more detail on the physics
        • Field lines from a power line
        • The direction of the field from a power line
        • Power law variations in the field from a power line
      • Statistics of power line fields
    • Underground power cables
      • Different types of underground cable
      • Fields from cables in tunnels
      • Gas Insulated Lines (GIL)
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      • Effect of height on fields from underground cables
      • Screening fields from underground cables
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      • Occupational exposures on pylons
    • Field levels and exposures
      • Personal exposure
      • Other factors that vary with magnetic fields
      • Fields greater than 0.2 or 0.4 µT
    • Screening EMFs
      • Screening fields from underground cables
      • EMF Reduction Devices
  • Known effects
    • Induced currents and fields
    • Microshocks
      • Control of microshocks in the UK
      • Microshocks from bicycles
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  • Research
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  • Current evidence on health
    • Childhood leukaemia
      • Survival from childhood leukaemia
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      • Childhood leukaemia and night-time exposure
      • The “contact current” hypothesis
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      • IARC
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      • ICNIRP 1998
      • ICNIRP 2010
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      • Power lines and property – UK
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    • Static fields – the expert view
You are here: Home / Research / Animal and laboratory experiments / Studies of the effects of EMFs on mice and rats

Studies of the effects of EMFs on mice and rats

When scientists are testing whether agents cause cancer or not, one important test is whether they produce cancer in rodents (mice and rats).  There are standardised protocols for these tests, e.g. as conducted under the auspices of the National Toxicology Program in the USA, exposing hundreds or often a thousand animals for the whole of their lifetime, and the results, in either direction, are widely regarded as strong evidence.

There have been 5 experiments using "normal" or "wild type" rodents, and another 5 on mice genetically modified specifically to show effects on leukaemia or lymphoma.  These experiments were reviewed by the World Health Organization in their Environmental Health Criteria.  The following summary is a simplified form of Table 78 from the EHC.  The links are to a separate page where we list the abstracts of these studies.

The overall conclusion from these studies is that 50 or 60 Hz fields have not been shown to produce cancer in rodents.  The WHO EHC concludes:

"Overall there is no evidence that ELF exposure alone causes tumours."

They also review other experiments on rodents in which EMF exposure has been combined with other carcinogens, and conclude:

"The evidence that ELF field exposure can enhance tumour development in combination with carcinogens is inadequate."

Animal modelFieldExposureResultReference
Large-scale lifetime studies
Male and female mice

60 Hz
2 µT-1 mT continuous and intermittent

2 yearsNo effect on incidence of most tumoursMcCormick et al 1999
Male and female rats

50 Hz
500 µT and 5 mT

2 yearsNo effect on incidence of most tumoursYasui et al 1997
Female rats

60 Hz
2 µT - 2 mT

2 yearsNo effect on tumour incidenceMandeville et al 1997
Male and female rats

60 Hz
2 µT - 1 mT continuous and intermittent

2 yearsNo effect on incidence of most tumours.  Increase in thyroid tumours in males.Boorman et al 1999
Male and female mice

50 Hz
500 µT and 5 mT

Exposure prior to mating and during pregnancy.

Follow-up 78 weeks

No effect on incidence of tumours in offspring.Otaka et al 2002
Leukaemia/lymphoma
Leukaemia-prone female mice

12 Hz or 460 Hz
6 mT pulsed

1 hr/week until death, 5 generationsNo effects on survivalBellossi 1991
Male and female mice

60 Hz
25 mT

3 generationsIncrease in lymphoma incidence in 3rd generation, but could be age effectFam and Mikhail 1993, 1996
Transgenic mice prone to lymphoma

50 Hz
1-1000 µT continuous and intermittent

18 monthsNo effect on lymphomaHarris et al 1998
Knock-out mice prone to low incidence of lymphoma

60 Hz
1 mT

18.5 hours/day 23 weeksNo significant effect on lymphoma incidenceMcCormick et al 1998
Mice with virus predisposed to lymphoma

50 Hz
1 or 100 µT

38 weeks from 4-5 weeks of ageNo significant effect on lymphoma incidenceSommer and Lerchl 2004

See also:

  • how evidence from the laboratory fits into the overall evidence
  • why these negative animal results, although strong, are not conclusive.

Latest news

  • New publication on cancer incidence from the UK electricity industry Cohort Study August 27, 2019
  • How has the reported risk for childhood leukaemia changed over time? February 11, 2019
  • Media stories about microshocks in children’s playground September 10, 2018
  • New studies on leukaemia and distance from power lines June 1, 2018
older news

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To contact the electricity industry’s EMF Unit Public Information Line (UK only):
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Navigation
  • What are EMFs
    • Terminology – an introduction
    • Electric fields
    • Magnetic fields
    • Units for measuring EMFs
    • Measuring and calculating EMFs
      • “EMF Commercial”
    • Adding fields together
    • Radiofrequencies
    • Screening EMFs
  • Sources
    • Overhead power lines
      • Fields from specific power lines
        • 400 kV
        • 400 kV – specific cases
        • 275 kV
        • 132 kV
        • 66 kV
        • 33 kV
        • 11 kV
        • 400 V/230 V
        • Replacing a 132 kV line with a 400 kV line
      • Summaries of fields from all power lines
      • Factors affecting the field from a power line
        • Voltage
        • Current
        • Clearance
        • Height above ground
        • Conductor bundle
        • Phasing
        • Balance between circuits
        • Balance within circuit
        • Ground resistivity
        • Two parallel lines
      • Calculating and measuring fields from power lines
        • Geometries of power lines
        • Raw data
        • On-line calculator
      • Fields from power lines – more detail on the physics
        • Field lines from a power line
        • The direction of the field from a power line
        • Power law variations in the field from a power line
      • Statistics of power line fields
    • Underground power cables
      • Different types of underground cable
      • Fields from cables in tunnels
      • Gas Insulated Lines (GIL)
      • Underground cables with multiple conductors
      • Effect of height on fields from underground cables
      • Screening fields from underground cables
    • Low-voltage distribution
      • UK distribution wiring
      • USA distribution wiring
    • House wiring
    • Substations
      • National Grid substations
        • Static Var Compensators
      • Sealing-end compounds
      • Distribution substations
      • Final distribution substations
        • Indoor substations
    • Transport
      • EMFs from electric trains (UK)
      • EMFs from cars
    • Appliances
    • Electricity meters
      • Smart meters
      • Traditional meters
    • Occupational exposures
      • Live-line work
      • Static Var Compensators
      • Occupational exposures on pylons
    • Field levels and exposures
      • Personal exposure
      • Other factors that vary with magnetic fields
      • Fields greater than 0.2 or 0.4 µT
    • Screening EMFs
      • Screening fields from underground cables
      • EMF Reduction Devices
  • Known effects
    • Induced currents and fields
    • Microshocks
      • Control of microshocks in the UK
      • Microshocks from bicycles
      • Bees and microshocks
    • EMFs and medical devices
      • Standards relating to pacemakers and other AIMDs
    • Effects of EMFs on equipment
  • Research
    • Types of research
    • Epidemiology
    • Animal and laboratory experiments
    • Mechanisms
    • Specific studies
      • UKCCS
      • CCRG
      • French Geocap study
      • CEGB cohort
      • Imperial College study
  • Current evidence on health
    • Childhood leukaemia
      • Survival from childhood leukaemia
      • Childhood leukaemia and Downs
      • Childhood leukaemia and night-time exposure
      • The “contact current” hypothesis
    • Other health effects
    • Scientific review bodies
      • WHO
      • IARC
    • Electric fields and ions
    • Comparing EMFs to other issues
  • Exposure limits for people
    • Limits in the UK
    • Limits in the EU
    • Limits in the USA
    • Limits in the rest of the world
    • Limits from specific organisations
      • ICNIRP 1998
      • ICNIRP 2010
      • NRPB 1993
      • NRPB 2004
      • EU 2004
      • EU 2013
  • Policy
    • UK policy
      • Power lines and property – UK
    • Compliance with exposure limits
    • European EMF policy
    • Precaution
    • SAGE
      • SAGE First Interim Assessment
        • Government response to SAGE First Interim Assessment
      • SAGE Second Interim Assessment
        • Government response to SAGE Second Interim Assessment
        • SAGE Second Interim Assessment – the full list of recommendations
  • Finding out more
    • EMF measurement and commercial services
    • Links
    • Literature
    • Contact us
  • Static fields
    • Static fields – the expert view