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Betreff:
Study on Fish |
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Von: Patricia Ormsby |
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Datum: Sat, 9 Jun 2007 23:51:22 -0700 (PDT) |
Sincerely, Pat Effects of
AC Magnetic Fields from Household Electric Current on Four Species of Tropical
Fish
Patricia Ormsby
1600 Inokashira, Fujinomiya-shi, Shizuoka-ken, 418-0108 Japan
pat @khaki.plala.
Abstract
A group of more than 20 Corydorus aeneus (corydorus), one mated pair of
Colisa lalia (gouramis), six Brachydanio rerio (danios) and one female
Pterophyllum scalare (angel fish) were kept in aquariums under
electromagnetic fields (EMF) emanating from household current from wiring
within the wall near the aquariums or from power lines external to the
house. The EMF values were 4-5 milligauss in the aquarium near the
internal
wiring, less than 1 milligauss in the aquarium away from the internal
wiring, and 2-3 milligauss in a house under power lines. Equal
attention
was devoted to keeping the fish healthy in all cases. The health
states of
the fish were monitored. The fish in the aquarium away from the
internal
wiring recovered from illnesses and, in the case of the gouramis and
corydorus, engaged in reproductive behavior. The angel fish showed a
tendency to prefer the side of the tank away from the wiring. All of
the
fish kept under conditions of 2-3 milligauss and 4-5 milligauss ceased
reproductive behavior and showed a gradual decline in health that proved
fatal in all cases within two years.
Key words: tropical fish, electromagnetic fields, household current,
milligauss, declining health, reproductive behavior
Introduction
I conducted this experiment in four phases between 1998 and 2002, with
conditions imposed externally. In other words, the conditions had to
be
changed to meet the needs of other people. At one point, for
example, I
received one angel fish (Pterophyllum scalare) and six danios (Brachydanio
rerio) from a friend leaving the country and as soon as was feasible,
purchased a larger aquarium. Using the resources I had available, including
Dr. Innes’s book on Exotic Aquarium Fishes (Innes, 1966), I attempted to
provide optimal conditions for the fish.
Prior to the beginning of this experiment, I had been keeping tropical fish
in a ten-liter aquarium on a table top against a wall with internal
electrical wiring which supplied power for the oxygenating equipment and
additionally heating in winter. The magnetic field in the vicinity
of the
wiring was 4-5 milligauss. The fish in that aquarium inevitably
became ill
and died within a few months of purchase. I investigated all
possible
causes of disease in the fish and became aware that EMF from household
current could cause illness (Firstenberg, 1997a,b). I purchased a
TriField(R) Meter, measured the EMF, then moved the aquarium away from the
wiring. Thus began Phase I of the experiment.
In Phase I, all of the fish (at this time, five adult Corydorus aeneus and
two Colisa lalia (gouramis)) were kept in a field of less than 1 milligauss.
Within three days, I observed their appetite and level of activity to
improve and all the fish commenced mating activity. The result was a
need
to buy a second ten-liter tank.
In Phase II, half of the fish were kept in the low EMF aquarium and half in
the high-EMF (4-5 milligauss) aquarium. Those in the high-EMF
aquarium
would cease reproductive behavior and gradually become ill. I would
then
switch the location of the aquariums to try to save them. Once out
of the
high-EMF area, they would quickly recover. During this phase, all
fatalities occurred in the high-EMF area and none in the low-EMF
area. The
danios and angel fish were acquired during this phase. The gouramis,
a few
of the corydorus and all of the danios were lost (the danios due to an
accident).
In Phase III, I purchased a 25-liter tank for the remaining fish, about
twenty corydorus and the angel fish. Due to lack of space, one end
of the
tank had to be in the high-EMF zone. The angel fish avoided this
zone,
though the reasons are unclear. The corydorus showed little
preference for
position, but may have had a tendency to gather in the high-EMF area because
of the looming angel fish above them in the low-EMF area. The angel
fish
remained in good health. The corydorus ceased reproductive behavior
and
began showing signs of declining health (susceptibility to infections, poor
appetite, lethargy, emaciation, deteriorating barbels).
In Phase IV, all of the fish were moved to a house under power lines where
the only positions in which aquariums could be installed were in fields of
2-3 milligauss. Under these circumstances, all of the fish gradually
declined. The angel fish died within one year and the last of the
corydorus, within two years.
Methods and Materials
The subjects in Phase I (1998) were five adult albino corydorus (Corydorus
aeneus, two female and three male) and a mated pair of dwarf gouramis
(Colisa lalia) kept in one ten-liter aquarium at 20-25 C, pH of 7.0, aerated
by pump, with lighting from a window nearby and room lights. City
water
(Hachioji-shi, Tokyo, Japan) was allowed to stand for several days in order
to allow the chorine to dissipate before being supplied to the
fish. The
food was a variety of commercially sold fish foods suitable to the species
kept, supplemented with frozen blood worms and other raw items. A
TriField(R) Meter was used to measure the AC magnetic field arising from a
wire supplying household electric current (90 V, 60 Hz) to the aerator and
heater. The aquarium was placed in an area with a field of less than
1
milligauss. The TriField Meter bears an explanatory label that says,
“Studies suggest biological effects may begin to occur near 3 milligauss of
AC magnetic field,” so I removed the aquarium from the vicinity of the
wiring, where the field was measured in the range of 4-5 milligauss.
The Phase II subjects (1998-99) included those of Phase I plus the
stabilized population of approximately twenty immature corydorus (offspring
of the initial five), with the subsequent addition of one angel fish
(Pterophyllum scalare) and six zebra danios (Brachydanio rerio). They
were
kept in two identical ten-liter aquariums under the conditions of Phase I,
except that one of the aquariums had to be kept in the vicinity of the
wiring with a field of 4-5 milligauss due to lack of space. The
other was
kept in a field of less than 1 milligauss. These were switched at
intervals
of about two months in order to rescue the affected fish. I
considered the
sound of the pump as a possible cause of distress in the tank nearest the
wiring, and moved its location to a hook on the wall above the tanks, where
the diminished sound would affect the tanks equally. The fish
continued to
decline in the tank near the wiring and recover in the tank removed from it.
The Phase III subjects (1999-2000) were approximately 20 remaining
corydorus, including the five initial adults, and the angel fish. A
25-liter aquarium was purchased to accommodate the angel fish. It
replaced
the two ten-liter tanks and was placed with one end in the area with EMF of
4-5 milligauss and the other end in the area with less than 1 milligauss.
The other conditions were as above.
In Phase IV (2000-2002), the subjects were the approximately 20 corydorus
and one angel fish of Phase III. They were moved to a house in
Fujinomiya-shi, Shizuoka-ken, Japan, which was located under two sets of
power lines which produced an AC magnetic field of 2-3 milligauss, measured
by the TriField Meter, in all areas suitable for aquariums. The fish
were
kept near a southern window in a 25-liter tank. The water was local
spring
water. Otherwise, the conditions were the same as above.
Results
The author’s attempts to keep the fish alive under circumstances of 2-3
milligauss failed. All of the fish studied showed signs of decline
under
conditions of 4-5 milligauss and most died within a few months. Overt
signs
of decline were particularly pronounced among the corydorus, and included
wasting of the barbels such that the fine ends would become blunted and
progressively shorter until they were lost completely. The danios
perished
in an accident and were not available long enough to draw any objective
conclusions, though it was my subjective impression that they fared better
when in the lower field. Otherwise the effects of the 4-5 milligauss
field
were striking in contrast with the field of less than 1 milligauss, and the
effects of the 2-3 milligauss field were unmistakeable.
Prior to Phase I
I struggled to maintain the health of fish purchased (by another person),
initially using pamphlets from shops selling these types of fish and
products such as antibiotics that were supposed to help cure the diseases
that continued to crop up among the fish. I obtained a detailed book on the
care of aquarium fish (Innes, 1966) and continued striving in all possible
ways to keep the fish healthy. A variety of tropical fish were kept
this
way, most dying within a year.
In 1997, I became aware of the possibility of effects arising from
electromagnetic fields of various kinds and purchased a TriField(R) Meter in
1998 to attempt to learn more about the fields in my living and working
environment. A friend living in central Tokyo had suffered a
prolonged bout
of flu-like symptoms and asked me to investigate “new pollutants” her
doctor had told her were to blame and were causing many people to experience
similar illness. In a search through environmental literature, I
encountered an article in the Earth Island Journal (Firstenberg, 1997b),
which described symptoms of microwave radiation sickness in humans resulting
from activation of a PCS network. These included “pressure behind
the
eyes; dry, puffy lips; swollen thyroid; sudden rise in pulse rate and blood
pressure; pressure or pain in chest; insomnia; dizziness; headache; nausea;
loss of appetite: coughing or wheezing: sinus problems; testicular or pelvic
pain; muscle spasms; tremors; irritability; memory loss; pain in the legs or
the soles of the feet; pains that move around the body; varying degrees of
dehydration; and occasionally fever, rash or nosebleeds.” Many of
these
symptoms matched my friend’s description and I began to wonder if the
general debility among the fish in my care had a similar cause. While
I
could find no detectable microwave radiation in the vicinity of the
aquarium, the magnetic field was large and within a range that the label on
the TriField Meter suggested could have biological effects. So I
moved the
aquarium out of it.
Phase I
The fish (two gouramis and five corydorus) became more active almost
immediately. Within three days, the gouramis began engaging in
mating
behavior (the male wrapping his body around the female and building bubble
nests, eggs appearing) which none of the fish in my care had ever done.
Shortly thereafter, the corydorus started mating too, with the males
engaging in display dances and other clearly defined mating behavior (see
Innes, 1966) and both of the females in turn pressing eggs onto the glass
walls of the aquarium.
Phase II
A second ten-liter aquarium was purchased and the adults were moved into
that. They had to be placed in the higher field (4-5 milligauss)
again as
there was insufficient space. There was a significant initial
die-off of
the very young fry, but they stabilized at approximately 20 young corydorus.
Meanwhile, the adult gouramis had fallen ill and perished about one month
after being returned to the higher field, and the corydorus were beginning
to show signs of debility, with lethargy and poor appetite. At this
time,
half of the young were placed with the adults and the tanks’ positions were
switched. The adults recovered quickly and began engaging in mating
behavior once more. I considered at this time the possibility that
the
debility in the high field might have been caused by the louder sound of the
air pump operating near the tank in the higher field, so I installed a hook
on the wall above the tanks and moved the air pump up to where its sound
should have had little effect on either tank. I continued having to
switch
the tanks at an interval of approximately two months as the fish in the
higher field weakened. During this time, a few of the young
corydorus in
the higher field perished.
A friend leaving Japan brought his collection of one angel fish and six
danios for my care. I’d been happily telling my friends how I’d
finally
figured out how to keep aquarium fish healthy. The angel fish went
into one
tank and the danios into the other, and I continued switching the tanks at
intervals to avoid letting the fish in the higher field get too
weak. A few
months later, the danios and one young corydorus in the higher field
perished due to an accident in which the water left to stand to remove
chlorine became contaminated, probably with citric acid, which my husband
used as a health tonic. I moved the surviving corydorus out of the
higher
field to help them recover. For the sake of the growing angelfish, I
bought
a 25-liter tank.
Phase III
Space would not allow me to keep all of the 25-liter tank out of the higher
field. I noticed that the angel fish almost never ventured into the
higher
field, but the corydorus would congregate anywhere, including the higher
field. I began taking note of random sightings of the angel
fish. After
100 randomly timed observations, I found approximately 70 times the angel
fish was on the far left from my viewpoint, furthest from the
wiring. About
25% of the time, she would be in the center, and rarely, she would venture
into the right third, nearest the wiring. I tried rearranging the
objects
in the aquarium, but that had no observable effect on her choice of
position. The angel fish remained healthy and grew. The
corydorus ceased
reproductive behavior and showed a decline, though not as pronounced as when
they lived full time in the higher field. There were no fatalities
in the
approximately six months of this phase.
Phase IV
All of the remaining fish (about 20 corydorus and one angel fish) were moved
to a 25-liter tank in a house with a field of 2-3 milligauss. From
thenceforth, none of the corydorus showed mating
behavior. All of the fish
declined in health, with loss of appetite and susceptibility to infections
in all and deterioration of the barbels in the corydorus. The angel
fish
perished within one year and the last of the corydorus, within two years.
Discussion and Conclusions
This study should be regarded as nothing but preliminary. Follow-up
research under more rigorously controlled conditions and careful observation
would be welcome in order to obtain statistically significant figures.
Nonetheless, I believe the results would have value to anyone trying to keep
aquarium fish healthy.
I would also imagine that under more optimal circumstances than I was
capable of providing, the fish might be able to survive elevated
EMF. I
note that aquariums are sold with fluorescent lighting, so presumably some
people are able to keep fish well even under heightened electric fields,
which are likewise found to have negative health impacts (according to the
information on the TriField Meter, above 1 kV/m of AC electric field¯within
a meter of fluorescent lights that I have measured).
What this study shows is that under the given circumstances, changes in AC
magnetic fields caused easily observable changes in the fish’s behavior and
health.
Regarding the corydorus, I speculate that either they do not sense
heightened AC magnetic fields so as to take protective action or simply fail
to take protective action for other reasons or they were intimidated by the
angel fish looming above them in the lower field. Many Corydorus
species
are from the Amazon, though C. aeneus is from Trinidad (Innes,
1966). The
angel fish are from the Amazon, and may be sensitive to EMF to help them
avoid hazards such as electric eels. In the case of the danios, I
have too
little data; but in the case of C. aeneus from Trinidad, Colisa lalia from
northern India, and Pterophyllum scalare from the Amazon basin, there were
clearly observable effects on their health and behavior from AC magnetic
fields.
References
Firstenberg, Arthur (1997a) Microwaving Our Planet¯The Environmental Impact
of the Wireless Revolution, Cellular Phone Task Force, Brooklyn, New York.
Firstenberg, Arthur (1997b) Microwaving Our Planet. Earth Island
Journal,
Summer 1997.
Innes, William T. (1966) Exotic Aquarium Fishes, 19th Edition, Revised,
Metaframe Corporation, Division of Mattel Inc., Maywood, New Jersey.