Upper bound on the biological effects of 50/60 Hz magnetic fields mediated by radical pairs

• Published in: eLife
• Main Author: PJ Hore
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2019
• Subjects: radical pairs; magnetic field effects; extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields; magnetoreception; spin dynamics; Medicine; R; Science; Q; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.44179; https://doaj.org/article/924e8b4b466e465c9998cc471660229b

Prolonged exposure to weak (~1 μT) extremely-low-frequency (ELF, 50/60 Hz) magnetic fields has been associated with an increased risk of childhood leukaemia. One of the few biophysical mechanisms that might account for this link involves short-lived chemical reaction intermediates known as radical pairs. In this report, we use spin dynamics simulations to derive an upper bound of 10 parts per million on the effect of a 1 μT ELF magnetic field on the yield of a radical pair reaction. By comparing this figure with the corresponding effects of changes in the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field, we conclude that if exposure to such weak 50/60 Hz magnetic fields has any effect on human biology, and results from a radical pair mechanism, then the risk should be no greater than travelling a few kilometres towards or away from the geomagnetic north or south pole.