Effects of magnetic fields produced by simulated and real geomagnetic storms on rats

In this paper we report experiments of arterial pressure (AP) measurements of ten Wistar rats subjected to geomagnetic field changes and to artificially stimulated magnetic field variations. Environmental electromagnetic effects were screened using a semianechoic chamber, which allowed us to discern the effects associated with geomagnetic storms. We stimulated the subjects with a linear magnetic profile constructed from the average changes of sudden storm commencement (SSC) and principal phases of geomagnetic storms measured between 1996 and 2008 with Dst ⩽ −100 nT. Although we found no statistically significant AP variations, statistically significant AP changes were found when a geomagnetic storm occurred during the experimental period. Using the observed geomagnetic storm variations to construct a geomagnetic profile to stimulate the rats, we found that the geomagnetic field variations associated to the SSC day were capable of increasing the subjects AP between 7% and 9% from the reference value. Under this magnetic variation, the subjects presented a notably restless behavior not seen under other conditions. We conclude that even very small changes in the geomagnetic field associated with a geomagnetic storm can produce a measurable and reproducible physiological response.