01 to 0.2 μT for magnetic fields. The possible risk on health with exposure to electromagnetic fields became a concern to the public, which led to numerous studies by scientists on the topic. We have shown in this review that the reported studies are largely contradictory with regard to epidemiologic studies (about half of the studies found a relationship

and the other half failed to find any), to the potential biological effects of ELF-EMF, and to the potentially Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical mechanisms put forward; no clear explanations exist for these contradictory results. The relative risk (RR) which establishes the relation between exposure to ELF-EMF and cancer, is approximately 2 to 3. In the absence of clear explanation(s) a number of hypotheses have been raised. The characteristics of the magnetic field

(linear or circular polarization, duration, timing), the animal species and, within a species, the strain appears to have a role in determining the biologic response obtained. Therefore, great care must be given when comparing data obtained in different animal Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical species, even within a group as rodents, since differences have been described between rodent species and even between pigmented and albino breeds. A possible Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical change in the spatial structure of the photoreceptor pigment rhodopsin due to the electric field induced by the magnetic field has been proposed. Magnetic fields might also change either the electrical activity of the pinealocytes or their ability Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to produce melatonin, or both. With regard to the numerous studies performed on the effects of ELF-EMF on melatonin, the differences observed in animals and humans in these effects may be due to the differences in anatomical location and configuration of the pineal gland, and also the difference in the rest-activity cycle between rodents and humans. A different sensitivity to ELF-EMF could also be part Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the explanation. Some human subjects may have greater sensitivity to ELF-EMF, but this is selleck chem Ivacaftor difficult to demonstrate because of the important interindividual variability in plasma concentration

of melatonin. As far as melatonin is concerned, we have shown a lack of effect of ELF-EMF on melatonin (concentration and circadian rhythm) in workers exposed daily for up to 20 years in their workplace and Anacetrapib at home, which strongly suggests that chronic ELF-EMF exposure appears to have no cumulative effects in human adults; this rebuts the “melatonin hypothesis” raised as an explanation for the deleterious sanitary effects of ELF-EMF.125 In the same way, the application of high-throughput omics technologies to investigate the influences of ELF-EMF is confronted with the heterogeneity among the biological materials investigated, which are as different as blood cells/vessels, tissue cells, nerves, and bacteria, and this makes it difficult to compare data and to arrive at firm conclusions on the potential effects of ELF-EMF on biological systems.