United States
                  Environmental Protection
                  Agency
Health Effects Research
Laboratory
Research Triangle Park NC 27711
                  Research and Development
EPA-600/S1-83-009  Feb. 1984
&EPA        Project Summary

                  Immunological  and
                  Hematological  Effects  of
                  Microwave  Power
                  Transmission from a
                  Satellite  Power  System
                           Part I. Systems for Exposing Mice to
                             2450 MHz Electromagnetic Fields
                  C. K. Chou and A. W. Guy
                    For the engineering aspect of this
                  study, two systems for exposing mice
                  to 2450 MHz electromagnetic fields
                  were developed. The first system was
                  used to  expose mice dorsally to circu-
                  larly polarized electromagnetic fields.
                  Four mice were placed in a styrofoam
                  cage and exposed in a vertically posi-
                  tioned circular waveguide [Guy et al.
                  1979]. The temperature and  humidity
                  in the mouse holder were kept constant
                  by forced ventilation. The uniformity of
                  energy absorption in the four mice was
                  found to be  most optimal when the
                  mice were exposed at a location of 5/8
                  of the length of the waveguide meas-
                  ured from the top of the waveguide
                  where the energy had been fed. For one
                  watt input power to the waveguide, the
                  average specific absorption rate (SAR)
                  was determined  by twin-well calori-
                  metrytobe3.60±0.11 (SEM) W/kg in
                  mice at a body mass of 26.94 ± 0.27 g.
                  The maximum surface SAR determined
                  thermographically was 8.36  W/kg in
                  the head of the  mouse. The second
                  system was a miniature anechoic cham-
                  ber modified from the original design by
                  Guy [1979].  Six  mice were  exposed
                  dorsally to far field plane waves in the
                  chamber. Copper shielding  and high
                  temperature absorbing material were
lined inside the chamber to accommo-
date the high input power. The air
ventilation at the location of the mice
was separately controlled so that any
heating in the absorber would not affect
the animals. For one watt input power,
the average SAR was 0.17 ± 0.01
W/kg and the maximum surface SAR
was 0.41  W/kg  in the animal when
exposed with body axis parallel to the E
f ield; the SARs were 0.11 ±0.01 W/kg
and 0.64 W/kg respectively when ex-
posed perpendicular to the E field.
  This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Health Effects Research Labo-
ratory, Research Triangle Park. NC, to
announce key findings of the research
project that is fully documented in a
separate report of the same title (see
Project Report ordering information at
back).

Introduction
  In studying the biological  effects of
microwave radiation, exposure of groups
of animals to radio-frequency electromag-
netic fields has been a common practice.
Under normal laboratory conditions, the
animals are housed in a group with water
and food ad lib. These conditions can
cause serious dosimetry problems during
exposure to electromagnetic fields since

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intensification occurs within the animals
and scattering of fields occurs among the
animals and the water bottle. The expo-
sure of single subjects  under properly
controlled conditions in a large anechoic
chamber can be prohibitively expensive.
Guy and Chou [1975] and Guy et al.
[1979],  have described  two circularly-
polarized waveguide systemsfor exposing
single small laboratory animals to 918 or
2450 MHz  electromagnetic fields. To
simulate free field exposure, Guy [1979]
also developed  a  miniature anechoic
chamber for exposing laboratory animals.
  In this study, the authors modified the
above two  systems for the  exposure of
mice to 2450 MHz electromagnetic fields.

Exposure System Modifications

Circularly Polarized Waveguide
  The  horizontally-positioned circular
waveguides, as described by Guy et al.
[1979], were positioned vertically for the
exposure from the top of four mice in each
waveguide (see Figure  1).  Four 250cc
polypropylene beakers provided space for
housing four mice comfortably  in the
waveguide. The holes at the bottom of the
polypropylene beaker and the top acrylic
cover allowed  air  to flow  through the
space  occupied by the animals. The
mouse cage was placed at a distance of
5/8 of the  length of the waveguide from
the top of the wavegu ide where the trans-
mitting transducer was  located. At this
position, the uniformity of the energy
absorption in the animals is optimal. The
lower part of the waveguide was wrapped
with a plastic sheet, and a muffin fan was
attached to the bottom of the waveguide
for air ventilation. The fan voltage was
controlled  by a variable transformer to
adjust the air velocity through the mouse
cage.

 Miniature Anechoic Chamber
   The original design of this chamber
was described by Guy [1979] (see Figure
 2). The inside of the chamber was lined
 with a copper sheet to prevent leakage of
 microwaves at high intensity exposure.
 At the ventilation holes, copper screen
 mesh  pads were soldered to the copper
 sheet.  Near the wide  side of the horn
 (Narda 644), where E fields are maximum,
 a section (2.54 x 30.5 x 30.5 cm) of high
 temperature open cell absorbing material
 (Eccosorb RM)* was placed at each side of
L =
   95.2
    Polyethylene
    Sheeting to
    Contain Air
Styro Foam
 Contoured
   Support
   Mount

   Muffin
     Fan
 'Mention of trade names or commercial products
 does not constitute endorsement or recommenda-
 tion for use by the U.S Environmental Protection
 Agency.
Figure 1.   Modified circularly polarized
           waveguide for exposing mice to
           2,450-MHz electromagnetic
           fields in environmentally con-
           trolled condition.

 the horn in place of the original Eccosorb
 AN-77  absorber.  Cooling of these  ab-
 sorbers was provided through the sixteen
 ventilation holes on  each side of  the
 chamber by two suction fans at the top. A
 three mil  plastic sheet  separated  the
 tapered section  and the bottom of  the
 chamber so that the upper section was
 ventilated independently from the lower
 section. There are three ventilation holes
 (6.35 cm diameter) on all four sides of the
 chamber  above  and below the plastic
 sheet separation. The holes were cut at a
 45° angle downward  on the  AN-77
 absorber to minimize microwave leakage
 through these holes. The light bulbs used
 in the original design were removed since
 room light passes through the ventilation
 holes giving a more uniform lighting than
 obtained with the  light bulbs. A muffin
 fan  was  located at the  outside of  the
 lower section to provide airflow.


 Oosimetry
   The average power density inside the
 circular waveguide can be estimated by
 averaging the input power over the cross
 sectional area of the waveguide. There-
 fore, for each watt of input power to the
 20.3 cm diameter waveguide, the average
 power density in the waveguide is 3.1
            Figure 2.    Front view of the modified minia-
                       ture anechoic chamber for ex-
                       posing mice to high intensity
                       microwave radiation (door open
                       to show the mouse holder).

            mW/cm2. In the anechoic chamber, the
            power density at the location of the mice
            (1.375 m  from  the  horn) was mapped
            every cm2 using an energy density meter
            (NBS  EDMI-C4). The  results  are very
            similar to those obtained previously [Guy
            1979], indicating  that the modification
            did not alter the power distribution char-
            acteristics. For  1  W input power, the
            power density at the center of the cham-
            ber was  0.175  mW/cm2  and  0.15
            mW/cm2 at the  locations of the mice.
              The SAP in the  mice was determined
            using two methods.  The whole  body
            average SAR was measured with a twin-
            well calorimetry system. For the circular
            waveguide system, five dead mice were
            used in each calorimetry run: one control
            and four exposed. One of the exposed
            mice and the control mouse were placed
            in a twin-well calorimeter. It was found
            that  when the mice  were  positioned
            radially with head toward or away from
            the center of the waveguide, the normal-
            ized average and standard error of SAR to
            1 watt input power to the waveguide was
            3.60 ± 0.11 W/kg in a group  of mice of
            26.94 ± 0.27 g in  body weight. If the
            exposed  mice were positioned perpen-
            dicular to the radial direction, the  nor-
            malized SAR was 2.40 ± 0.09  W/kg. For
            the miniature chamber, seven  mice were

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 used in each calorimetry run: one control
 and six exposed. The six exposed mice
 were  positioned  either  parallel or per-
 pendicular to the E field. Then one of the
 exposed  mice  was compared with the
 control mouse in the twin-well calorim-
 eter. When the mice were exposed par-
 allel to the E field, the normalized SAP to
 one watt input power to the horn was
 0.17 ± 0.01 W/kg. The SAR decreased to
 0.11  ± 0.01 W/kg when the exposed
 mice were oriented perpendicularly to the
 E field.
  The two-dimensional SAR pattern was
 determined thermographically. Since
 mice are very small in mass,  the method
 of bisection used before can  cause large
 errors due to the heat dissipation during
 the data  acquisition process. It  was
 decided, therefore, to measure the sur-
 face SAR of mice. In order to avoid the
 messy process of removing hair from
 mice  for better skin emissitivity, nude
 BALB/c mice were used. The SARs were
 higher in regions of mice near the center
 of the waveguide. The maximum normal-
 ized SAR was 8.36 W/kg in  the head of
 the mouse exposed facing the center of
 the waveguide. In the anechoic chamber,
 the SAR was quite uniform in the mouse
 exposed with body parallel to the E field.
 The highest SAR was 0.38 W/kg at the
 base of the tail.

 Discussion

   The authors have described two sys-
 tems for  exposing mice to 2450 MHz
 electromagnetic fields. The circular wave-
 guide system can be used to expose four
 mice simultaneously to circularly polar-
 ized electromagnetic fields. The miniature
 anechoic chamber system can be used to
 expose six mice at a time to plane wave
 electromagnetic fields.  In the anechoic
 chamber system, the animals are sepa-
 rated from each other at a greater distance
 than that in the circular waveguide. There-
 fore, the multiple scattering among the
 animals in the circular waveguide is larger
 than in the anechoic chamber. However,
 the  SARs in mice are well documented
 using the techniques of twin-well calor-
 imetry and thermography.

  There are  several advantages of the
 circular waveguide system  over the
 anechoic chamber  system. The  advan-
 tages make the circular waveguide sys-
 tem  a better  choice for exposing a large
 population of mice  to  electromagnetic
 fields for the study  either of biological
 effects or hyperthermia for cancer ther-
 apy.  The advantages are:
 1.  More energy efficiency: The average
    SAR  in mice was 21  times higher
    when exposed in circular waveguide
    than in the anechoic chamber for the
    same input power. This efficiency is
    important if a large number of ani-
    mals are to be exposed, since smaller
    and less expensive power sources
    will be sufficient to  feed  multiple
    waveguides.
2.  Less orientation  dependence:  The
    difference  in  SAR  between  mice
    positioned in orientations was some-
    what smaller in the circular polarized
    waveguide (i.e., 3.6 and 2.7 W/kg in
    circular waveguide versus 0.17 and
    0.11 W/kg in anechoic chamber).

3.  Less space requirement: The wave-
    guide required 324 cm2 for four mice
    and the chamber occupies 5519 cm2
    for  six mice.  Therefore,  11 times
    more space is needed for exposing
    one single  mouse in the chamber
    than in the waveguide.

References
Guy, A.W., and C.K. Chou (1975): System
   for quantitative chronic exposure of a
   population of rodents to UHF fields, in
   Biological Effects of Electromagnetic
   Waves, Selected Papers of the USNC/
   URSI  Annual  Meeting,  Boulder,
   Colorado, October 20-23,1975, Vol. II,
   edited by C.C. Johnson and M.L. Shore,
   HEW Publ. (FDA) 77-8011, 389-410,
   U.S.  Government Printing  Office,
   Washington, DC 20402.
Guy, A.W.  (1979): Miniature anechoic
   chamber for chronic exposure of small
   animals  to  plane-wave microwave
   fields. J. Microwave  Power, 14(4):
   327-338.
Guy, A.W., Wallace, J., and McDougall,
   J.A. (1979): Circularly polarized 2450-
   MHz waveguide system for  chronic
   exposure of small  animals to micro-
   waves. Radio Sci., 14(6S):63-74.
                               Part II. Failure to Detect an Effect of
                       2450 MHz Microwave Irradiation on a Variety of
                         Immunological and Hematological Parameters
                                     K. E. Hellstrom, I. Hellstrom, C. C. Jones,
                                    H. J. Garrigues, C. K. Chou, and A. W. Guy
  Following two reports  by Wiktor-
Jedrzejczak et  al., (1977a, b) that
microwave irradiation of CBA/J mice
affects their immune system, as assayed
in vitro, CBA/J male mice were sub-
jected to 2450  MHz microwave irradi-
ation using both circular waveguides
and  anechoic chambers, giving both
single and multiple exposures at 14 or
28 W/kg.  The  effects of microwave
irradiation on the immune system were
studied utilizing in vitro assays to detect
possible changes in cell populations of
the  spleen.  These assays  included
complement-receptor  assays,  plaque
assays, T and B cell assays, and mitogen
assays. No consistent effects of micro-
waves could be detected when irradi-
ated mice were compared with sham-
exposed mice which had been treated in
an identical fashion and no consistent
effects on various hematological param-
eters could be observed either.

Introduction

  The increased interest in using micro-
wave  irradiation for various  purposes
(including  microwave ovens,  telecom-
munication, and solar power satellite as a

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means to transfer energy),  has led  to
concern whether exposure to microwaves
can have any biological effects.
  Wiktor-Jedrzejczak  et  al.,  reported
(1977 a, b) that a single exposure  of
CBA/J mice to 2450 MHz microwaves
(specific absorption rate of 12 to 15 W/kg
body weight), in an environmentally con-
trolled waveguide facility,  induced a
significant increase in the proportion of
complement-receptor positive  (CR+)
spleen lymphocytes.  This effect was
enhanced by repeated exposure, which,
in addition, produced a  significant  in-
crease in the number of cells with im-
munoglobulin  at  the cell membrane.
Similar effects were observed by Sulekef
al. (1980) and found to be highest 6 days
after irradiation. Smialowiczef al. (1978),
on the other hand, failed to induce any
significant immunological effects with an
analogous  protocol.  However, these
authors used  BALB/c mice, which,  ac-
cording to Schlagel et al. (1980) are not
sensitive to any microwave effects on CR+
cells, the responsive mice all having the
same genetic makeup at the H-Z locus
which is different from CBA/J, (H-2k) and
BALB/c mice (H-2d).
  In this study, attempts were  made to
confirm the findings of Wiktor-Jedrzejczak
et al. (1977 a, b), using CBA/J mice, and
employing both circular waveguides and
anechoic chambers for  irradiation.  As
controls, sham-treated mice were used,
which except for irradiation, were treated
in  an  identical  manner to the mice
exposed to microwaves. Some tests also
included control mice which were of the
same age and sex  but  housed in our
ordinary animal facility ("cage controls").
  The study was unable to confirm the
reported increase in lymphocytes express-
ing complement receptors.  Also, there
were no affects on  the plaque-forming
response of spleen cells to sheep  red
blood cells (SRBC) or dinitrophenol (DNP),
the relative proportions of T and B cells in
the spleen, the response of spleen cells to
mitogens, or various hematological  pa-
rameters.

Materials and Methods

Mice
  CBA/J males, with an average weight
of 24.8 ± 1 g and an age of 8-12 weeks,
were used for all experiments. The mice
were bought from the Jackson Labora-
tories (Bar Harbor, ME).
Exposure Systems and
Dosimetry
  The circular waveguides and miniature
anechoic chamber, as described in Part I,
were used for exposing mice to 2450 MHz
microwaves at  an SAR of  14 and 28
W/kg. The mean  and standard error of
the rectal temperature of the  mice before
and after a  30-minute exposure to 14 or
28 W/kg in both circular waveguides and
anechoic chambers were measured. The
only statistically significant difference (t
test, p <0.01) was found between the
control group and the group  exposed for
30 min to 28 W/kg in the circular wave-
guides.

Complement-Receptor Assays
  Mice were exposed to microwave radi-
ation that produced an average SAR of 14
W/kg, with separate groups of animals
being exposed either once ("single") or
three times ("multiple"). Another  group
of animals were given multiple exposure
at double power or an average SAR of 28
W/kg. Six days  following exposure,
spleen cells from  control and irradiated
animals were tested to determine if expo-
sure to microwaves affected  the number
of complement  receptor positive spleen
cells.

Assays of Plaque Forming Cells
   Mice were immunized with either DNP
or SRBC, as done by Wiktor-Jedrzejczak
et al. (1977b) and  exposed to microwave
radiation (SAR  of 14 W/kg)  for  three
consecutive days.  On the sixth day after
immunization, their  spleen  cells were
tested for production of antibody to DNP
or SRBC, using the Jerne plaque assay.

Tests for  Mitogen Response
  Mice were either irradiated  one time
("single") or on day 0, 3, 6 ("multiple") at
a specific absorption rate of 14 W/kg.
Three, six, and  nine days following the
last exposure of mice to irradiation, their
spleens were assayed for responses  to
PHA, Con A, LPS, PWM, PPD,  poly 1C (PIC)
and dextran sulfate (DS). The  response of
irradiated animals was compared to that
of sham-exposed animals and, in  some
experiments, entirely untreated and re-
ferred to as "cage controls."

T and B Cell Enumeration
  Mice were  either irradiated one time
("single") or on day 0, 3, 6 ("multiple") at
a SAR of 14 W/kg. Six days following the
last  exposure their spleen  cells  were
treated with anti-IgG antibody (to detect B
cells) or anti-Thy 1.2 antibody (to detect T
cells in the  presence of guinea pig com-
plement); this was to determine the rela-
tive numbers of T and B cells. Data from
six irradiated animals were compared to
that from six sham-exposed animals.
  The mean percentage lysis (± SE) for
both exposed and sham-treated groups
was recorded, and the differences  be-
tween these means were analyzed by the
Student t test or by analysis of variance
(ANOVA).
  Mice were anesthetized with ether and
bled from the retro-orbital cavity. Smears
were prepared for differential counts and
whole  blood was diluted  in  Isoton II
(Coulter Electronic,  Inc., Tukwila, WA)
and evaluated on a Model ZBI Coulter
Counter  and  an  S. Coulter Counter
(Coulter Electronic, Inc.) for erythrocyte
count,  leukocyte  count, hematocrit and
hemoglobin  concentration. The means
and standard errors of exposed sham and
control groups were calculated and  the
differences among these means  were
analyzed by the discriminant analysis.

Results
  Mice were exposed to microwaves at
one  or repeated occasions with  the
exposure being done in either circular
waveguides or anechoic chambers, after
which several immunological parameters
were  measured,  as presented  below
under separate headings for each of the
different parameters. Data from a hema-
tological study are given last.

Assays for Spleen Cells Bearing
Complement Receptors (CR*)

Irradiation in Circular
Waveguides
  Mice were exposed to microwave irra-
diation at an average SAR of 14 W/kg.
Separate groups of animals were exposed
to this dose either once or three times.
Another  group of animals was  given
multiple exposures at an average SAR of
28 W/kg. Six days following exposure,
spleen cells from sham-treated, and irra-
diated animals were tested to determine
if exposure to microwaves had an effect
on the frequency and/or total number of
CR+ spleen cells.
  There were no significant differences
in CR* cells  in mice exposed once or
repeatedly  to  14  W/kg. However,  the
group exposed to 28 W/kg, showed a
weak but significant increase (p <0.05) in
the total number of CR+ cells.
  A  repeat experiment in which mice
were exposed to 28 W/kg also showed a
significant increase (p <0.02) in the total
number of CR+ cells in the irradiated mice
when compared to either sham-exposed
mice or the cage-controls. There was also
a weak but significant increase in the %
CR* cells in irradiated  mice when com-
pared to sham-exposed mice.

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  One more experiment was performed
in which the mice were  exposed in a
circular waveguide  with  3 treatments
being given at a dose of  14 W/kg.  No
differences between  sham-treated and
irradiated animals were then seen.

Irradiation in Miniature
Anechoic Chambers
  Mice exposed  in anechoic chambers
were tested in a way similar to the mice
exposed in  the circular waveguides.  No
significant differences were observed in
the percentage of CR* cells or in the total
number of CR+  cells between  sham-
treated and irradiated groups, independ-
ently of whether the mice were irradiated
once (14 W/kg) or repeatedly (28 W/kg).

Plaque Assays
  Three groups exposed in circular wave-
guides were  first tested,  namely cage
controls,  sham-exposed  and exposed
mice. Without immunization, there was a
significant difference between the cage
controls and the other groups tested with
more anti-DNP plaques formed by cells
from the  cage controls. Also irradiated
animals showed slightly (p <0.05) ele-
vated total PFC/spleen to DNP antigen as
compared to the sham-treated animals.
  Exposure to microwaves in the anechoic
system failed to show any significant
differences in the DNP response of irradi-
ated and sham-treated mice. A decreased
response to the  T-dependent  antigen
SRBC was seen in both sham-treated and
irradiated groups, as compared to "cage
control" mice.

T and B Cell Enumeration
  Assays of the numbers of splenic T and
B cells failed  to show any significant
differences between animals exposed to
microwaves and the parallel sham-treated
controls. No effects of microwaves were
noted on T and B populations following
either single or  multiple  exposures  in
circular waveguides.  Neither were any
effects seen when the mice were exposed,
once or repeatedly, in anechoic chambers.

Response to Mitogens
  Animals exposed to a 14 W/kg single
dose of microwaves  demonstrated  no
significant differences compared to sham-
treated animals in their response to either
T or B cell mitogens. Similar exposure to
multiple doses demonstrated reduced
responses to Con A, in one experiment if
the mice were tested 9 days after expo-
sure.
  When mice were exposed in anechoic
chambers to a single dose of microwaves.
an increased response to LPS was seen at
3 days after exposure, and the response
to PWM was increased significantly at 6
days  after exposure. At 9 days,  the
response to  PPD was significantly de-
creased and the response was increased
to PHA. In addition, both exposed and
sham-tested groups demonstrated a de-
creased response (not significant) to LPS
at 6 and 9 days. These results suggest an
initial increase in the response of B cells
followed by a decrease at a time when the
T cell response showed a slight increase.
  With multiple exposures, an increased
response to T  cells  was indicated  by
higher counts for Con A at 6 days after the
last exposure or 12 days after the first
exposure. This finding was supported by a
second experiment.  In addition,  the
second  experiment showed increased
response to PWM at 6 days.

Hematological Studies

Circular Waveguides
  For  single  exposure to 14 W/kg, the
blood was tested 3, 6 and 9 days after the
exposure. There was no difference be-
tween  sham and exposed groups at p
<0.05 level. When the cage control data
was  compared  with  the 6  days after
sham-exposed data, there was a signifi-
cant difference (p  <0.03) on the  RBC
count.  There were several  differences
after 3 and 9 day multiple exposure. Due
to the small  sample size (N  = 3),  these
differences are probably due to biological
variations, since there is no consistent
change on any of the 9 parameters.
  When the  power  was increased to 28
W/kg in the circular waveguide,  there
were no differences in WBC, RGB,  HGB
and HCT.

Anaechoic Chamber
  No  consistent significant effects were
seen  between  the sham and exposed
groups. Although there were differences
in WBC, SEG and lymphocyte counts in
mice  exposed to 28 W/kg,  the WBC of
exposed mice  was well in  the normal
range and the  normal SEG and lympho-
cytes also varied over a large range. Mice
were  also studied  which had been im-
munized with  PBS, DNP or SRBC and
exposed in  circular waveguides  at  14
W/kg. The results show differences in
WBC  counts when the mice have been
immunized with DNP or SRBC.

Discussion
  The study attempted to confirm the
results (Wiktor-Jedrzejczak et al., 1977a;
1977b; Sulek et al.,  1980) that micro-
waves can induce immunological effects,
detectable  in  vitro,  most notably an
increase in the numbers of spleen lympho-
cytes expressing receptors for  comple-
ment at their surface (CR+ cells). For this
reason, the authors tried to duplicate, to
the best of their abilities, the experimental
set-ups used in the studies reporting an
effect of the radiation, including the use
of mice of the same strain (CBA/J), the
same sex (males), the  same relative ages
(8-12 weeks), weight (24.8 ± 1 g), and the
same doses of radiation (14 W/kg and, for
some experiments, 28 W/kg). Mice were
irradiated  using  either circular wave-
guides  or anechoic  chambers.  Sham-
treated controls, which had been handled
identically to the irradiated animals were
always included; in some  experiments
the authors also used  "cage controls"
which were mice of the same age and
weights, which had been housed in our
regular animal facility  until  they were
tested.  Care was taken to keep constant
both the temperature and humidity in the
room in which the exposed and the sham-
treated mice were maintained, the values
being 25 ± 1°C and 50 ± 10%, respec-
tively.
  No consistent and significant effects of
microwave irradiation  were observed.
Most important, the authors were unable
to confirm the reported findings that CR*
spleen  cells are more frequent in mice
subjected  to microwave irradiation. Al-
though an increase  in such cells was
observed in two of our experiments, when
circular waveguides were used for irradi-
ation,  it  was  not  consistent,  and no
increase  was found  when  mice were
irradiated in anechoic chambers. The only
reproducible effects of radiation observed
were effects on the response to spleen
cells to mitogens,  indicating an initial
increase of B cell response followed by a
decrease,  at  a  time  when  the T cell
response increased (6-9 days). However,
these changes were slight and were seen
only in mice treated in anechoic chambers
(as compared to circular waveguides). In
the experiments of Wiktor-Jedrzejczak et
al. (1977b), weak increases of reactivity
to B cell mitogets (particularly LPS) were
seen in mice exposed once or repeatedly,
using rectangular waveguides. Likewise,
temporary but statistically significant and
reproducible fluctuations in the response
of lymphocytes to mitogens were reported
by Huang and Mold (1980). In the current
study, the authors failed to confirm the
reported  decrease  in the  response  of
irradiated mice  to  SRBC (Wiktor-
Jedrzejczak et al. 1977b).

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  The reason for the discrepancy between
the current  findings on CFT cells and
those reported by Wiktor-Jedrzejczak et
al. (1977a) and by Sulek et al. (1980) is
not clear. It cannot be attributed to differ-
ences in mice, dose of irradiation, or time
points of observation. However, the fact
that  the  authors of the  current  study
occasionally saw increases in the number
of CR+cells in mice which were repeatedly
irradiated using  circular waveguides
makes them believe that occasional,
slight increases of such cells sometimes
occur (as in Wiktor-Jedrzejczak's experi-
ments).  The explanation  for these  in-
creases, and the failure of irradiation in
anechoic chambers to produce it, remains
unclear.

References
Schlagel, C.J., Sulek, K., Ho, H.S., Leach,
   W.M., Ahmed, A., and Woody, J.N.,
   (1980): Biomechanisms  controlling
   susceptibility  to  microwave-induced
   increased  in  complement receptor-
   positive spleen cells. Bioelectromag-
   netics,  1:1405.
Similialowicz, R.J., Riddle, M.M., Brugno-
   lotti, P.L., Sperrazza, J.M., Kinn, J.B.
   (1978): Proceedings of the 1978 IMPJ
   Symposium on Electromagnetic Fields
   in Biological Systems, Stuchly, S.S.,
   (ed.), Ottawa, Canada, 122.
Sulek,  K.,  Schlagel,  C.J.,  Wiktor-
   Jedrzejczak, W., Ho, H.S., Leach, W.M.,
   Ahmed, A., and Woody, J.N. (1980):
   Biologic effects of microwave  expo-
   sure. I. Threshold conditions for  the
   induction of the  increase in comple-
   ment  receptor positive (CR*) mouse
   spleen cells  following exposure to
   2450-MHz microwaves. Radiation Re-
   search, 83:127.
Wiktor-Jedrzejczak, W., Ahmed, A., Sell,
   K.W.,  Czerski, P., and  Leach,  W.M.
   (1977a): Microwaves induced an in-
   crease in the frequency of complement
   receptor-bearing lympohid spleen cells
   in mice. J. Immunol., 118:1499.
Wiktor-Jedrzejczak, W., Ahmed,  A.,
   Czerski, P., and Leach, W.M. (1977b):
   Immune response of  mice of  2450
   MHz microwave radiation: Overview
   of immunology and empirical studies
   of lymphoid splenic  cells. Radio Sci.,
   12(6S):209.
Huang,  A.T.F. and Mold, N.G. (1980):
   Immunologic and hematopoetic alter-
   ation  by  2450-MHz electromagnetic
   radiation. Bioelectromagnetics,  1:77.
C. K. Chou and A. W. Guy are with the University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  98195; K. E. Hellstrom, I. Hellstrom, C. C. Jones, and H. J. Garrigues are with
  the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98JO4.
Ralph J. Smialowicz is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The  complete report,  entitled  "Immunological  and Hematological Effects of
  Micro wa ve Po wer Transmission from a Satellite Po wer System," /Order No. PB
  83-226 480; Cost: $10.00, subject to change) will be available only from:
       National Technical Information Service
       5285 Port Royal Road
       Springfield, VA 22161
        Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
       Health Effects Research Laboratory
       U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
       Research Triangle Park, NC 27711

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