Study of effects of long-term low-level RF exposure on rats: A plan

The study is designed to simulate the chronic exposure of man to 450-MHz radio-frequency (RF) radiation at an incident power density of 1 mW/cm². This paper presents a plan for conducting a lifetime exposure study involving two phases of work. The first phase, up to March 1980, is being spent in preparation for the chronic study. During the second phase, 200 rats, 100 experimental and 100 control, will be exposed 22 h/day over their lifetime to pulse-modulated 2450- MHz RF fields at an incident power density less than 500 µW/cm². The state of health of each animal will be assessed periodically throughout the exposure period until the death of the animal. Blood chemistry parameters, mortality rates, histopathology, body weight, and water and food consumption will be the biological endpoints of this study. The modulation consists of 16 pulse groups/s (25 pulses/group) with a pulse duration of 10 µs and a period of 500µs.