Effect of 50-Hz electromagnetic field on the retention of toxic radionuclides in rat tissues.

The effect of electromagnetic field (EMF) 50 Hz, 10 mT, on the tissue retention of radiotoxic polonium-210 and thorium-234 was studied in a rat model. Regarding 210Po in the ionic state, small but significant effects were obtained by exposure of rats to EMF either before the intravenous injection of 210Po (pre-exposure) or after the rats had already been injected with 210Po (post-exposure). When compared with control values, pre-exposure to EMF caused a significant 28% decrease in the retention of 210Po in the skin and a 10% decrease in total 210Po retention in the investigated tissues. Relative to controls, post-exposure resulted in a 131% increase in 210Po retention only in the thymus. Regarding carrier-free 234Th in the ionic state, both types of EMF exposure caused a substantial increase in 234Th retention in the liver and spleen and a decrease of 234Th in the bones. A different effect of EMF on the retention of 234Th in the body was obtained when the mass of thorium was increased by adding as carrier 232Th (50 micrograms kg-1 body mass). With pre-exposure, a significant 10% decrease in the high retention of 234Th in the liver (77% of injected radioactivity) was observed. On the other hand, with post-exposure no significant changes in retention of 234Th were found in the tissues.