The Effect of 17 Days Exposure to Static Magnetic Fields on the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal Axis in the Male Rat

Power stations produce a range of magnetic fields more than 20 mt which are harmful tothose working or living around them. several investigators have reported an increased healthrisk due to exposure to electric and magnetic fields (emf) at 50 and 60 hz. several studieshave been reported especially with increased tumor incidence, effects on reproduction anddevelopment, and neural and behavioral changes.this study evaluated the possible effect ofstatic mfs 50 hz on the secretion oftestosterone,lh and fsh hormones in male rats. forty eight wistarmale rats (same range of age and weight)were randomly divided into four groups. animals in group i were used as a sham exposuregroup. after one-week adaptation they were placed in exposure to three mfs for 40 minutesdaily for 17 days. group 2, 3 and 4 were exposed with 6, 12 and 24 mt static mfs at 50 hzrespectively. after experiments animals were killed and their bloods were collected in separatedtubes and their serums were separated using a centrifuge with 3500 rpm for is min.hormones were measured using gamma counter equipment with ria and ipma methods.the results were analyzed by anova statistical method. our results show that testosterone, lhand fsh have not changed significantly (p(less than) 0.05) using these static mfs intensities. thereforeit can be concluded that at least the static mfs used in this study (with these intensities andduration) can not affect the secretion of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal hormones.