The Effect оf Repeated Exposure to Complexly Organized Electromagnetic Radiation on the Rat Behavior in the “Open Field” Test

The effect of threefold (1 hour a day with an interval of three days) and multiple (8 weeks, 5 days a week, 2 hours a day) pulsed-modulated electromagnetic radiation on the orienting-exploratory response was studied on males and females of Wistar rats by the “open field” method. The animals were irradiated in an anechoic chamber in the zone of the formed wave of the microwave source (a block of 10 generators carrying frequencies from 1 to 4 GHz, the total pulse power density 300 µW/cm², pulse duration 25 ms, sweep cycles 1–6 Hz, cycle turn-around time 30 s). It was shown that the exposure to such parameters could cause a stress reaction and an impairment of long-term memory in some irradiated animals, female rats being more sensitive to the action of microwaves than males. This reaction was transient and the animal behavior was restored 1.5–2 months after cessation of irradiation. However, there is a danger that in the case of constant exposure to microwaves, which, for example, occurs in mobile users, such behavior deviations may be fixed and clinically significant.