Effects of prenatal exposure to extremely low electro-magnetic field on in vivo derived blastocysts of mice

Background: indisputable population exposure to widespread electromagnetic fields,has grown concerns over the probable health effects of these fields. objective: the present study was aimed to examine the possible effects of 50 hz extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (elf-emf) exposure on the number and quality of mice blastocysts. materials and methods: in present study,66 nmri pregnant females divided into two treated and non-treated groups. the treated group exposed to elf-emf (50 hz and 6×10-3 t). subsequently,embryos were collected by flushing the uterine horn and fallopian tubes on the day 3 of gestation. number of trophoectoderm (te) and inner cell mass (icm) cells in blastocysts were determined after differential nuclei staining using a modified method. furthermore,number of all flushed blastocysts calculated in each group. results: there was no significant difference in mean number of blastocysts in treated (6.64±1.34) and none treated (8.22±1.59) groups. in treated group,there were significant decreased in total cell number of blastocysts (p=0.000),number of icm cells (p=0.000),and number of te cells (p=0.001) whereas the ratio of icm/te cells increased (p=0.002). conclusion: the data indicate that elf-emf is able to affect cellular composition of blastocysts,but it can't omit total volume of blastocysts.