Effect Of Microwave Radiation On The Retina Of Mice Embryos

Abstract

The present investigation is concerned with the effect of mobile phone radiation on the development of mice embryos. The pregnant females were divided into 3 groups, the control group (GI) and 2 irradiated groups, 10 females each. The 2^nd group and 3^rd group were subjected to 950MHz at SAR=1W/kg and 1800MHz at SAR=1.6W/kg respectively from day 7 to day 14 of gestation for 2 hours/ day. The exposure to microwave caused fetal growth retardation in all irradiated groups. However, no morphological abnormalities were observed in all the experimental groups.

The retina of the 18-days-old fetus maternally exposed to microwave showed histopathological changes including pyknotic nuclei in both outer and inner nuclear layers (group II), while they lost their normal arrangement and became aggregated in the outer nuclear layer in group III. At the level of electron microscopy the retinal tissue revealed deformed and dilated mitochondria and condensed heterochromatin of the nuclei of the outer nuclear layer. The ganglionic cells showed degenerated cytoplasmic organelles in group II. However, remarkable aggregations of melanin pigments were detected in the pigmented layer of group III. Since the evaluation of the clinical relevance of microwave radiation interactions on fetal retina is still lacking, such pathological changes must be taken into consideration in order to minimize cell injuries.