Magnetite may confound EMF research

Microscopic magnetic particles that permeate the environment may be affecting millions of dollars of research on the possible effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on human cells, according to scientists at California Institute of Technology and Oregon State University, Corvallis. The controversial issue of a potential link between EMFs and some types of cancer has spawned many studies, including a $65 million, five-year research program jointly sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the Department of Energy (DOE). Half of that program is devoted to exploring the effects of EMFs on cell cultures. But such experiments are not adequately controlling for ubiquitous, ambient ferromagnetic particles that can collect in cell samples from glassware and other lab equipment, according to Joseph L. Kirschvink, a Caltech professor of geobiology. The dust-sized ferromagnetic particles interact strongly with EMFs and could conceivably be responsible for some of the effects ...