Study suggests damage is cumulative Prolonged exposure to low-
level magnetic fields, similar to those emitted by such common
household devices as blow dryers, electric blankets and razors,
can damage brain cell DNA, according to researchers in the
University of Washington's Department of Bioengineering. The
scientists further found that the damage from brief exposures
appears to build up over time. The new study is scheduled to be
published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a journal of the
National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, and is
available now on the Internet. In the study, the researchers
discovered that rats exposed to a 60-hertz field for 24 hours
showed significant DNA damage, and rats exposed for 48 hours
showed even more breaks in brain cell DNA strands. Exposure also
resulted in a marked increase in brain cell apoptosis, or "cell
suicide," a process in which a cell self-destructs because it
can't repair itself. A previous study showed similar damage, but
it was conducted at 10