In the last few decades, evidence has surfaced that weak radiofrequency (RF) fields can influence biological systems. This work aims to improve our understanding of how externally applied weak RF fields alter concentrations of chemical parameters that characterize oxidative stress. We conducted a series of experiments to investigate the effects of applying weak RF magnetic fields within the 3–5 MHz region on mitochondrial respiration in both human fibrosarcoma and fibroblast cells over a period of four days. Our experimental data show that RF fields between 3 and 5 MHz were able to change the modulation of mitochondrial signaling by changing the cell growth, mitochondrial mass, and oxidative stress. Exposure to RF fields at 4.2 MHz significantly increased the mitochondrial mass and oxidative stress in fibrosarcoma cells. There are substantial concerns that extended exposure to weak RF fields can lead to health effects. The ability to control these parameters by external magnetic fields may have important clinical implications.

The increasing evidence regarding biological effects of exposure to an extremely low frequency magnetic field is of utmost interest not only to the scientific community, but also to legislative bodies and the public. However, the research in this field is full of controversial and inconsistent results, originated from a lack of widely acceptable physical mechanisms that could sufficiently describe the principle of such a field’s action. This experimental study addresses and points to possible sources of ambiguities via investigation of the ion parametric resonance mechanism at 50 Hz frequency. The chosen methodology incorporates exposure of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strain based on an established exposure protocol with special attention to the measurement of an applied time-varying magnetic field corresponding to the ion parametric resonance requirements. Subsequently, the differences in cell growth as a reaction to changes in magnetic flux density are evaluated and statistically analyzed. It is found that fluctuations in the magnetic field within the exposure setup need to be addressed properly, since this could have an impact on replication of the experiments and reliability of the results. Furthermore, comparison of two independently performed sets of 10 experiments showed statistically significant effects even in conditions that did not fulfill the requirements of the resonance theory, putting the validity and practical application of the ion parametric resonance model into question.

Hypomagnetic fields (HMF), or nearly zero magnetic fields, are fields with a value of magnetic flux density lower than the Earth's geomagnetic field. The effects of these so-called weak magnetic fields can manifest in living organisms by influencing biological functions such as the circadian system, calcium balance in cells, DNA methylation, concentration of reactive oxygen species, as well as changes in metabolic and developmental processes. This article describes how HMF affects selected cellular structures through specific exposure parameters, whose selective impact has been verified on the proliferative activity of the yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In 25 experiments, the inhibitory effect of a time-varying magnetic field at a level of 0.365 µT was confirmed, which corresponds to the magnitude of magnetic flux density in the vicinity of 100 kV power lines. Global organizations also point out the possible correlation between HMF generated by 50 Hz power lines and various diseases, particularly childhood leukemia.