Study on Ultrastructural and Morphometric Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) on Retina of Rat

The increasing use of devices such as cell phones poses a question whether these waves have effect on different tissues of the human body. So far many studies have been conducted on ultrastructural influence of these waves on organs such as brain, kidney, etc. According to its location, retina is directly exposed to this radiation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of electromagnetic waves with frequencies from 50 Hz to 60 Hz on ultrastuctural and morphometric changes in different layers of the retina. Male rats were divided into two groups; experimental and control. Experimental group was under magnetic field (3 millitesla) for 4 weeks. Samples were evaluated by light and electron microscope. In experimental group, total retinal thickness was significantly increased compared with the control group (132 ± 7.78 vs. 89.47± 3.83, P=0.0005). Furthermore, external nuclear layer thickness was 32.23±3.2 microns in experimental group compared to that in the control group (20.15 ± 1.43 microns) (P= 0.0005). In the experimental group, the number of nucleus in each 25 × 25 micron area was 13.64 ± 0.89 compared with the control group (7.30 ±0.95) (P= 0.0005). Moreover, core dimensions of light receptor cells in the experimental group was 3.85 ± 0.36 compared to the control group (2.62 ± 0.23) (P= 0.0005). Light receptor cells show increased proliferation under the effect of magnetic field.