Ultra-wideband electromagnetic pulses: lack of effects on heart rate and blood pressure during two-minute exposures of rats.

Jauchem JR, Seaman RL, Lehnert HM, Mathur SP, Ryan KL, Frei MR, Hurt WD

Bioelectromagnetics 19(5): 330-333, 1998

Exposure to fast-rise-time ultra-wideband (UWB) electromagnetic pulses has been postulated to result in effects on biological tissue (including the cardiovascular system).

In the current study, 10 anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to pulses produced by a Sandia UWB pulse generator (average values of exposures over three different pulse repetition rates: rise time, 174-218 ps; peak E field, 87-104 kV/m; pulse duration, 0.97-0.99 ns).

Exposures to 50, 500 and 1000 pulses/s resulted in no significant changes in heart rate or mean arterial blood pressure measured every 30 s during 2 min of exposure and for 2 min after the exposure. The results suggest that acute UWB whole-body exposure under these conditions does not have an immediate detrimental effect on these cardiovascular system variables in anesthetized rats.