The effect of low-frequency pulsed magnetic fields on chick embryonic growth

There are many claims made for biological effects of low-frequency pulsed magnetic fields ranging from beneficial to harmful, but few have been independently verified. The ubiquitous nature of both natural and man-made magnetic fields makes the possibility of biological interaction a potentially important subject. We have investigated the claimed stimulatory action of low-frequency pulsed magnetic fields, of a type used clinically, on the growth of embryonic chicks. Four day old embryos were exposed to a magnetic field, peak field strength 2.1 mT pulsed in 5 ms bursts repeated at 15 Hz, for 100 h. Embryo weights and long-bone lengths were compared to sham-exposed controls. Particular care was taken to reduce temperature differences between the test and control groups because this model has a known sensitivity to small temperature changes. We found no increase in embryonic growth due to this low-frequency pulsed magnetic field and hence have been unable to confirm earlier findings by other workers using the same model. We conclude that rigorous design of experimental protocol and a full description of the physical parameters are essential in studies purporting to show effects of electromagnetic fields if the results are to be confirmed by other workers.