Is the genotoxic effect of magnetic resonance negligible ? Low persistence of micronucleus frequency in lymphocytes of individuals after cardiac scan

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ( MRI) is a diagnostic technique widely used in medicine and showing a growing impact in cardiology. During a MRI scan patients experience both a strong static magnetic field and rapid variable magnetic field exposure in the radiofrequency domain. A huge literature is available regarding electromagnetic effects on human health which exclude genotoxic effects induced by extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields. Biological effects of static and variable magnetic fields associated to MRI for medical diagnosis have received far less attention, but it cannot be ruled out that similar fields with different frequency can alter DNA structure. The present study aimed at to identify possible DNA damage induced by MRI scan in humans For this purpose, lymphocyte cultures from healthy subjects had been exposed into MRI device for different times and under different variable magnetic exposure in order to build dose-effect curves, using micronuclei (MN) induction as biological marker. Replicate cultures were also left for 24 h at room temperature before stimulation, to verify possible damage recovery. Furthermore, MN induction and recovery up to 120hrs have been also evaluated in circulating lymphocytes of individuals after cardiac MRI scan. The results clearly indicate an increased frequency of MN after MRI scan both with in vivo and in vitro exposition. The low persistence of these abnormalities is presumably due to instability and/or lethality of cells bearing MN.