CalciumEffluxof PlasmaMembraneVesicles Exposed toELFMagnetic Fields Testofa

The question whether very weak, low frequency magnetic fields can affect biological matter is still under debate. The theoretical possibility of such an interaction is often questioned and the site of interaction in the cell is unknown. In the present study, the influence of extremely weak 60 Hz magnetic fields on the transport of Ca2þ was studied in a biological system consisting of highly purified plasma membrane vesicles. We tested a newly proposed quantum mechanical model postulates that polarization of hydrogen nuclei can elicit a biological effect. Vesicles were exposed for half an hour at 32 8C and the calcium efflux was studied using radioactive 45Ca2þ as a tracer. A static magnetic field of 26 mT and time-varying magnetic fields with a frequency of 60 Hz and amplitudes between 0.6 and 6.3 mT were used. The predictions of the model, proposed by Lednev, that at a frequency of 60 Hz the biological effect under investigation would significantly be altered at the amplitudes of 1.3 and 3.9 mT could not be confirmed. Bioelectromagnetics 33:535–542, 2012. 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.