Weak EMFs Implicated In Tumor Promotion

WEAK EMFS ALTER GENE EXPRESSION, IMPLICATED IN TUMOR PROMOTION

 

November/December 2000

An extremely-low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF EMF) can alter gene expression at levels as low as 40-50 mG and, in some ways, act like a tumor promoter, according to a new study from Dr. James Trosko’s lab at Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing, MI.

“I went into this with some skepticism,” Trosko told Microwave News. “Initially, we did not believe it….We repeated the experiment 25 times.”

“ELF EMF fields mimic some of the properties of known chemical tumor promoters such as TPA,” Trosko and coworkers report in the October issue of Environmental Health Perspectives (108,pp.967-972, 2000).

He stressed that more work needs to be done before it is clear whether EMFs have all the properties of a cancer promoter (see p.10 for an interview with Trosko).

Nevertheless, Trosko has shown an ELF EMF effect on gene expression.

If replicated, it would go a long way towards settling a controversy that has raged for many years (see, for example, MWN,J/A94 and M/J95).

The new results caught many observers by surprise and have already prompted much interest —both because the effects occurred at very low levels and because of the international reputations of members of the research team.