Biological effect of a hypogeomagnetic environment on an organism.

In an age of a scientific and technical revolution, when many operators work in structures shielding the geomagnetic field (GMF) by a factor of 100 or more, the urgency of this problem is shown. To study the effect of a hypogeomagnetic environment on warm-blooded organisms, series of experiments were conducted on rabbits that passed through entire embryogenesis and grew to an age of one month in a shielded chamber where the GMF was reduced by a factor of 600. The results obtained confirm that the effect of the GMF is needed for normal development of the organism. Degenerative disturbances in the liver, myocardium, and gastrointestinal tract were noted in animals reared in a reduced GMF. Structural and energy metabolism are disturbed, and the marked inhibition of activity of the investigated enzymatic systems, except the glycolytic, is shown. Changes in the motor activity of the experimental animals and insufficiency of the neuromuscular apparatus were revealed. The mortality rate among the experimental animals was statistically higher than for the controls. The authors raise the question of the need for further comprehensive investigations of the established effects of the hypogeomagnetic environment.