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Exposure to mobile phone radiations at 2350 MHz incites cyto- and genotoxic effects in root meristems of Allium cepa

Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering volume 17, pages 97–104 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

The exponential increase of electromagnetic field radiations (EMF-r) in the natural environment has raked up the controversies regarding their biological effects. Concern regarding the putative capacity of EMF-r to affect living beings has been growing due to the ongoing elevation in the use of high frequency EMF-r in communication systems, e.g. Mobile phones.

Methods

In the present study, we tried to examine the cyto- and genotoxic potential of mobile phone EMF-r at 2350 MHz using onions (Allium cepa L.). Fresh adventitious onion roots were exposed to continuous EMF-r at 2350 MHz for different time periods (1 h, 2 h and 4 h). The evaluation of cytotoxicity was done in terms of mitotic index (MI), phase index and chromosomal aberrations. Genotoxicity was investigated employing comet assay in terms of changes in % HDNA (head DNA) and % TDNA (tail DNA), TM (tail moment) and OTM (olive tail moment). Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and mean values were separated using post hoc Tukey’s test.

Results

The results manifested a significant increase of MI and chromosomal aberrations (%) upon 4 h, and ≥ 2 h of exposure, respectively, as compared to the control. No specific changes in phase index in response to EMF-r exposure were observed. The % HDNA and % TDNA values exhibited significant changes in contrast to that of control upon 2 h and 4 h of exposure, respectively. However, TM and OTM did not change significantly.

Conclusions

Our results infer that continuous exposures of radiofrequency EMF-r (2350 MHz) for long durations have a potential of inciting cyto- and genotoxic effects in onion root meristems.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are highly grateful to Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India, for financial assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160014, India

    Shikha Chandel, Shalinder Kaur, Daizy Rani Batish & Ravinder Kumar Kohli

  2. Department of Environment Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160014, India

    Mohd Issa & Harminder Pal Singh

  3. Central University of Punjab, Mansa Road, Bathinda, 151 001, India

    Ravinder Kumar Kohli

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  1. Shikha Chandel
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  2. Shalinder Kaur
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Correspondence to Shalinder Kaur.

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Chandel, S., Kaur, S., Issa, M. et al. Exposure to mobile phone radiations at 2350 MHz incites cyto- and genotoxic effects in root meristems of Allium cepa. J Environ Health Sci Engineer 17, 97–104 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-018-00330-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-018-00330-1

Keywords

  • Electromagnetic field radiations
  • Mitotic index
  • Chromosomal aberrations
  • DNA damage