Relevancy of experimental studies of microwave-induced cataracts to man

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:7300312

Michaelson, S M

Cataract is the most well-known of all eye diseases, but despite wide public exposure and research which has been devoted to elucidation of the etiology, the knowledge of biochemistry of the normal and pathological lens is still somewhat fragmentary. During the past 25 years, numerous investigations in animals and several surveys among human populations have been devoted to assessing the relationship of exposure to microwaves and subsequent development of cataracts. Thus after 25 years of studies of the effects of microwaves on the ocular lens, primarily in the rabbit, the principal conclusions are: the acute thermal insult from high-intensity microwave fields is cataractogenic if intraocular temperatures reach 45 to 55/sup 0/C; the microwave exposure threshold is between 100 and 150 mW/cm/sup 2/ applied for about 60 to 100 minutes; and there does not appear to be a cumulative effect from microwave exposure unless each single exposure is sufficient to produce some irreparable degree of injury to the lens. 90 references.

• Research Organization: Rochester Univ., NY (USA). School of Medicine and Dentistry
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-02-3490
• OSTI ID: 7300312
• Report Number(s): UR-3490-1168; CONF-770667-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560400* -- Other Environmental Pollutant Effects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMALS
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BODY
CATARACTS
CRYSTALLINE LENS
DISEASES
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ETIOLOGY
EYES
INJURIES
MAMMALS
MAN
MICROWAVE RADIATION
ORGANS
PRIMATES
RABBITS
RADIATIONS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
REVIEWS
SENSE ORGANS
SENSE ORGANS DISEASES
VERTEBRATES