Extremely low frequency magnetic fields originating from equipment used for assisted reproduction, umbilical cord and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, transfusion, and hemodialysis

The extremely low-frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (MFs) originating from equipment used for assisted reproduction, umbilical cord-blood and peripheral-blood stem cell transplantation, transfusion, and hemodialysis were measured. The ELF-MF values were 0.1-1.2 μT on clean benches, <0.1-8.0 μT inverted microscopes, <0.1-13.6 μT in CO₂ incubators, 4.3-11.5 μT in centrifuges, 0.4-18.8 μT programmed freezers, <0.1-0.3 μT deep freezers, 0.3-3.1 μT cell separators, and 0.2-0.9 μT in hemodialysers. Frequencies of MFs were nominally 60 Hz, but some devices showed non-sinusoidal 120 Hz. Such MFs can be reduced by shielding the sources or altering the protocols employed.