# ELF-009 — Life-span exposure to sinusoidal-50 Hz magnetic field and acute low-dose γ radiation induce carcinogenic effects in Sprague-Dawley rats

Why this matters
Rats given both a power-frequency magnetic field and a small gamma-radiation dose developed more of some cancers than rats receiving gamma radiation alone. It makes combined exposures worth examining. The comparison matters: the heart-tumour result was not significant against gamma-only animals, and this was not an RF experiment.

Id: ELF-009

Author: Soffritti et al.

Full Authors: Morando Soffritti; Eva Tibaldi; Michela Padovani; David G. Hoel; Livio Giuliani; Luciano Bua; Michelina Lauriola; Laura Falcioni; Marco Manservigi; Fabiana Manservisi; Simona Panzacchi; Fiorella Belpoggi

Year: 2016

Title: Life-span exposure to sinusoidal-50 Hz magnetic field and acute low-dose γ radiation induce carcinogenic effects in Sprague-Dawley rats

Journal: International Journal of Radiation Biology

Citation: Soffritti M, Tibaldi E, Padovani M, Hoel DG, Giuliani L, Bua L, Lauriola M, Falcioni L, Manservigi M, Manservisi F, Panzacchi S, Belpoggi F. Life-span exposure to sinusoidal-50 Hz magnetic field and acute low-dose γ radiation induce carcinogenic effects in Sprague-Dawley rats. International Journal of Radiation Biology. 2016;92(4):202-214. doi:10.3109/09553002.2016.1144942.

Doi: 10.3109/09553002.2016.1144942

Pmid: 26894944

Topic: Power frequency fields

Verification Group: Original text reviewed

Record Role: Original text reviewed

Featured: False

Exposure: 50 Hz sinusoidal magnetic field, 20 or 1000 µT, 19 h/day, gestational day 12 to natural death; additional whole-body 0.1 Gy gamma dose at 6 weeks. ELF plus ionising coexposure, not RF.

Design: 1658 rats including 1001 shared untreated controls; gamma-only 118 M/105 F; 20 µT+gamma 105 M/107 F; 1000 µT+gamma 110 M/112 F. Cox survival-adjusted models; Mantel-Haenszel for some zero-case endpoints. Survival unchanged. Same pathology team/supervisor review; masking not documented in reviewed methods.

Finding: At 1000 µT+gamma, female mammary adenocarcinoma 18/112 vs 8/105 gamma-only (p≤.05); male haemolymphoreticular neoplasia 28/110 vs 18/118 (p≤.05). Male cardiac schwannomas 2/105 and 3/110 vs 1/500 untreated were significant; comparison against gamma-only 0/118 was nonsignificant.

Boundary: Coexposure; large shared untreated control and smaller gamma-only comparator; not an RF-alone or below-limit cancer demonstration; combined atypia/carcinoma endpoints distinct from carcinoma alone.

Related: RI ELF megaexperiment; 1001 untreated controls shared with ELF-alone and formaldehyde arms. Distinct animals/exposure from RF-002; Soffritti 2019 mini-review repeats data.

Protection Question: Can combined exposures modify cancer outcomes? Comparisons with gamma-only animals are essential: selected mammary and haemolymphoid findings differed, whereas the heart-schwannoma comparison did not. This is a power-frequency coexposure experiment.

Access: Original 14-page early online journal PDF reviewed: methods, Tables 2-6, results, funding; final citation checked with Scite/PubMed.

Locator: PDF pp 3-4 treatment/pathology/statistics; p 7 Tables 4-6; p 9 heart comparison; p 12 funding. Final journal pp 202-214.

Notice: No editorial notice located in Scite/PubMed/targeted title searches 2026-10-20; not certification of no possible future notice.

Funding: RI; ARPA Emilia-Romagna; UK Children With Cancer; Cassa di Risparmio Bologna; INAIL; Fondazione del Monte Bologna/Ravenna; Municipality of Bologna. No conflicts declared; funders no direct role.

Conflicts: Authors declare no conflicts or competing interests, as documented in the retrieved source disclosure.

Source Url: https://doi.org/10.3109/09553002.2016.1144942

Retrieval Links: https://doi.org/10.3109/09553002.2016.1144942 | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26894944/ | https://ehtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/Soffritti-et-al.-2016-2.pdf

Verification Date: 2026-10-20