Plasma concentrations of thyroxine in dairy cows exposed to 60 Hz electric and magnetic fields

Two experiments were carried out to assess the effects of electric and magnetic fields (EMF) on blood thyroxine (T4) in dairy cattle. In experiment 1, 16 lactating pregnant Holstein cows were exposed to 10 kV/m, 30 microTesla (microT) EMF. The animals were divided into two groups of eight animals each. Each group was exposed to EMF according to one of two treatment sequences of three periods of 28 days each. Sequence 1 was EMF OFF-ON-OFF and sequence 2 was EMF ON-OFF-ON. During the last day of each treatment period, blood samples were collected every 4 h for 24 h to estimate T4 plasma concentrations. In experiment 2, 16 nonlactating, nonpregnant, multiparous Holsteins were exposed to 10 kV/m, 30 microT EMF. The animals were divided into two groups of eight animals each. Each group was exposed to EMF according to one of the two treatment sequences described above, except that each period amounted to the number of days corresponding to one estrous cycle. During treatment, blood samples were collected every other day for T4 analysis. In both experiments, the light cycle emulated a short photoperiod (8 h light/16 h dark). During the ON periods, the animals were exposed to EMF for 16 h, 8 h of the light period plus the first 8 h of during the dark period. In experiment 1, exposed animals did not have any change in T4 plasma concentrations due to treatment (P = .0968), but, the time of sample collection revealed a significant difference (P = .0012). In experiment 2, the effect of period (P = .0009) and the treatment by days interaction (P = .0003) were statistically significant. We conclude that a worst case scenario exposure of dairy cattle to 10 kV/m, 30 microT EMF influences, in a moderate fashion, the blood levels of thyroxine.