LAUSR

The biological impact of microwaves exposure on biosphere is presently an important research subject. With the significant increase of communications technology use, of industrial and military activities which involve radiofrequency radiation, electromagnetic pollution became very intense in the last years. The aim of the present work was to investigate the genotoxic influence of microwaves on Zea mays seeds. They were exposed in controlled conditions for different durations at 1 GHz continuous wave providing a low specific absorption rate of energy. Post-exposure the mitotic- and chromosomal aberrations indexes were determined. Qualitatively, a wide range of abnormal mitotic stages were detected in cells of exposed seeds in comparison with the control. Quantitatively, slight stimulatory effect on mitotic division process, expressed by an enhanced percentage of dividing cells (increased of 26% for 180 min exposure), for all exposed samples was revealed, while lowered level of induced chromosomal aberrant cells percentage (up to 2.14%) was also found. The aberrations percentage and mitotic index increased in time-dependent manner on exposure dose.