EFFECTS OF MICROWAVE-RADIATION ON ERYTHROCYTE-MEMBRANES

Suspensions of rabbit, human, and dog erythrocytes were irradiated by S‐band microwaves in a WR‐284 waveguide chamber for a period of 20 minutes or three hours. The release of K+ and hemoglobin, and the osmotic fragility of the cells, were assayed to determine the effects of microwave and conventional heating on erythrocyte membranes. Conventional heating and microwave radiation resulted in sample temperatures that ranged from 25 to 44°C. There were no statistically significant differences between freshly prepared cells that were irradiated and those heated in a temperature‐controlled water bath at energy absorption rates near 200 mW g−1 for three‐hour exposures at a frequency of 3.0 GHz, and near 80 and 100 mW g−1, respectively, for frequencies of 2.45 and 3.95 GHz. Freshly prepared suspensions of rabbit erythrocytes and ouabain‐treated suspensions were also exposed to 3.0‐GHz microwaves at an absorption rate of 170 mW g−1 for 20 minutes or for three hours. No statistically signficant differences were detected between irradiated and water‐bath‐heated samples. In addition, effects of 3.0‐GHz microwaves on rabbit erythrocytes that had been held for seven days at 4°C prior to three hours of exposure were studied at a range of absorption rates to 170 mW g−1; no statistically significant effects of microwave irradiation were observed compared with the water‐bath‐heated controls although both modes of heating induced permeability changes relative to room‐temperature controls. Copyright 1979 by the American Geophysical Union.