Assessing the potential leukemogenic effects of 50 Hz magnetic fields and their harmonics using an animal leukemia model.

To answer the still unresolved question of the possible leukemogenic effects of extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MFs) and of their harmonics on the incidence of B acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children, we used an animal model to explore the possible co-initiating or co-promoting effects of ELF-MFs on the development of leukemia. We used a rat model in which B acute lymphoblastic leukemia is chemically induced by a nitrosurea derivative. From the onset of the chemical treatment, the animals were also exposed to ELF-MFs (100 microT, sinusoidal 50 Hz MFs), with or without harmonics.

[Update on transmissible spongiform subacute encephalopathies (TSSE)].

This update concerns human and ruminant transmissible spongiform subacute encephalopathies (TSSE). The latest data on variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease confirm that new cases are less frequent than feared some years ago, but subclinical carriers could be a source of iatrogenic infection. The macaque is a good model of human oral transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).