Effect of Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Field on the Quantity and Structure of Hemoglobin of Employees in Electricity Industry

  Nowadays, people are exposed at large quantities of magnetic field due to industrialization of the environment; therefore, studying the effect of these fields on human health is very important. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic field on the quantity and structure of hemoglobin of employees in electricity industry. The present experimental study was carried out in the employees of a power generation plant in Tehran in 2017. Using total population sampling method, 29 employees of exploitation department were selected as exposed group and 29 employees of administrative and support department were selected as unexposed group. The magnetic field intensity of the power generation plant was studied by NIOSH 203 method. Blood samples were collected from two groups of people; hemoglobin concentration in blood samples were evaluated by spectrophotometer and changes in hemoglobin structure were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16, using the Mann-Whitney U test. The mean of hemoglobin concentration in the exposed group (15.67±1.42) was significantly different from that of the unexposed group (17.31±3.03), so that the hemoglobin level of the exploitation department staff was lower than that of the administrative and support staff (p<0.0001). Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy showed significant changes in the 1413 and 11430cm-1 between the exposed and unexposed groups. Contact with extremely low frequency of magnetic field causes changes in hemoglobin quantity and its molecular structure in employees in electricity industry.