Risk Assessment of Human Subjects occupationally exposed to Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (ELF-EMFs) and Light at Night (LAN) with particular reference to Melatonin Hypothesis

Modern society makes pervasive use of electric power producing electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) and light at night (LAN). This has resulted in the indiscriminate use of electrical and electronic gadgets which release electromagnetic radiations which are supposed to cause the biological effects by some scientists. However, ELF- EMFs and LAN are hypothesized to be responsible for the changes in hormonal configurations leading to development of cancer in women particularly nurses who are occupationally exposed to ELF- EMFs and LAN. The blood samples of 342 exposed subjects and 150 non exposed individuals were analyzed. Plasma melatonin was measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). DNA damage was studied by alkaline comet assay along with micronucleus test and RT- PCR. Our results suggest that the plasma melatonin levels were significantly suppressed in the occupationally exposed subjects (p < 0.05) and DNA damage ranged between 8 mu m to 10 mu m. Group-C exposed subjects showed more DNA damage. The occupationally exposed subjects were found to be vulnerable for electromagnetic stress with decreased melatonin concentrations and increased DNA damage.