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INTERACTION OF AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AND MICROWAVE POWER DENSITY ON SCHEDULE-CONTROLLED BEHAVIOR IN THE RAT
Citation:
Gage, M. AND W. Guyer. INTERACTION OF AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AND MICROWAVE POWER DENSITY ON SCHEDULE-CONTROLLED BEHAVIOR IN THE RAT. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-82/463 (NTIS PB86213626).
Description:
Most guidelines of microwave exposure do not explicitly address effects of ambient temperature. The experiment revealed that ambient temperature potentiates the behavioral effects of intensity of irradiation. Sixty-four adult male Long-Evans rats were trained to insert their heads into a food cup to obtain food pellets on a 1-min variable-interval schedule of reinforcement. Two groups of four rats each were then exposed to 2450-MHz CW microwaves for 15.5 hours under one of the following eight combinations of power density and air temperature: 8 or 14 m/cm. sq. at 22 C; 0, 8, or 14 mW/cm. sq. at 26 C; and 0, 8, or 14 mW/cm. sq. at 30 C (relative humidity was 50% in all cases). Response rate of each rat following exposure was compared with its control rate at 0 mW/cm. sq. and 22 C. After exposure at 8 mW/cm. sq., response rates were reduced by a mean of 13.8% at 22 C, 27.5% at 26 C, and 77.5% at 30 C. After exposure at 14 mW/cm. sq., rates were reduced by a mean of 21.1% at 22 C, 43.7% at 26 C, and 80.0% at 30 C. In the absence of microwaves the higher temperatures caused only slight decreases in response rate.