volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

After a review of work leading to the determination of the electric field induced in the human body when exposed to the electromagnetic field near an extremely-low-frequency high-voltage transmission line, attention is directed to a spherical cell exposed to the electric field in the body. Following a brief discussion of the potential biological significance of the study, the electric field acting on the surface of the cell and the electric field induced by it in the region between the outer cell membrane and the nuclear envelope are determined analytically, as is the field induced in the nucleus. It is shown, as an example, that when the body is exposed to a 60-Hz axial electric field of 2100 V/m, the field induced in the nucleus of a cell in the body is 0.27 nV/m when the radius of the nucleus is half that of the cell. The biologically interesting electric field along the outer surface of the nuclear envelope is in this case 2.7 μV/m. The simple analytical formulas can be applied to other values of the parameters, such as varying sizes of the nucleus (see Figure 2), and to power-line fields of different magnitude.

1. Pennisi, E., "Trigger for centrosome replication found," Science, Vol. 283, 770-771, Feb. 5, 1999.
doi:10.1126/science.283.5403.770 Google Scholar

2. Hinchcliffe, E. H., C. Li, E. A. Thompson, J. L. Maller, and G. Sluder, "Requirement of Cdk2-cyclin E activity for repeated centrosome reproduction in Xenopus egg extracts," Science, Vol. 283, 851-854, Feb. 5, 1999.
doi:10.1126/science.283.5403.851 Google Scholar

3. Gandhi, O. P. (Ed.), Biological Effects and Medical Applications of Electromagnetic Energy, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1990.

4. King, R. W. P. and T. T. Wu, "The complete electromagnetic field of a three-phase transmission line over the earth and its interaction with the human body," J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 78, 668-683, 1995.
doi:10.1063/1.360325 Google Scholar

5. Margetis, D., "Exactly solvable model for electromagnetic field in air of a three-phase power line over the earth," Digest of the 1996 IEEE AP-S International Symposium, Vol. I, 334-337, 1996.
doi:10.1109/APS.1996.549607 Google Scholar

6. Margetis, D., "Electromagnetic fields in air of traveling-wave currents above the earth," J. Math. Phy., Vol. 39, 5870-5893, 1998.
doi:10.1063/1.532601 Google Scholar

7. Margetis, D., "Studies in classical electromagnetic radiation and Bose-Einstein condensation,", Ph.D. Thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1999.
doi:10.1063/1.532601 Google Scholar

8. King, R. W. P., "Shielding by a house from the electric field of a power line," Radio Sci., Vol. 34, 773-779, 1999.
doi:10.1029/1999RS900057 Google Scholar

9. King, R. W. P. and S. S. Sandler, "Electric fields and currents induced in organs of human body when exposed to ELF and VLF electromagnetic fields," Radio Sci., Vol. 31, 1153-1167, 1996.
doi:10.1029/96RS01313 Google Scholar

10. King, R. W. P., "Currents and electric fields induced in the human body when the arms are raised," J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 81, 7116-7128, 1997.
doi:10.1063/1.365308 Google Scholar

11. Foster, K. R. and H. P. Schwan, "Dielectric properties of tissues and biological materials: A critical review," Critical Reviews in Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 17, 25-103, 1989. Google Scholar

12. King, R. W. P., "Electric field induced in a spherical cell in the human body when exposed to a 50- to 60-Hz electromagnetic field," Radio Sci., Vol. 34, 539-547, 1999.
doi:10.1029/1998RS900042 Google Scholar

13. Alberts, B., D. Bray, J. Lewis, M. Raff, K. Roberts, and J. D. Watson, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 477-485, Garland Publishing, New York, 1999.

14. Press, W. H., B. P. Flannery, S. A. Teukolsky, and W. T. Vetterling, Numerical Recipes: The Art of Scientific Computing, 52ff, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986.

15. Lee, J. H. and K. J. McLeod, "Morphologic responses of osteoblast-like cells in monolayer culture to ELF electromagnetic fields," Bioelectromagnetics, Vol. 21, 129-136, 2000.
doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-186X(200002)21:2<129::AID-BEM8>3.0.CO;2-Q Google Scholar

16. Lisi, A., D. Pozzi, E. Pasquali, S. Rieti, M. Girasole, A. Cricenti, R. Generosi, A. L. Serafino, A. Congiu-Castellano, G. Ravagnan, L. Giuliani, and S. Grimaldi, "Three-dimensional (3D) analysis of the morphological changes induced by 50 Hz magnetic field exposure on human lymphoblastoid cells (Raji)," Bioelectromagnetics, Vol. 21, 46-51, 2000.
doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-186X(200001)21:1<46::AID-BEM7>3.0.CO;2-Z Google Scholar

17. Aaron, R. K., D. M. Ciombor, H. Keeping, S. Wang, A. Capuano, and C. Polk, "Power frequency fields promote cell differentiation coincident with an increase in transforming growth factor-beta(1) expression," Bioelectromagnetics, Vol. 20, 453-458, 1999; erratum, ibid., Vol. 21, 73, 2000.
doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-186X(199910)20:7<453::AID-BEM7>3.0.CO;2-H Google Scholar

18. Eibert, T. F., M. Alaydrus, F. Wilczewski, and V. W. Hansen, "Electromagnetic and thermal analysis for lipid bilayer membranes exposed to RF fields," IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., Vol. 46, 1013-1020, 1999.
doi:10.1109/10.775412 Google Scholar

Dr. Ronold W. P. King

Dr. Dionisios Margetis