Working in a lab with magnetic fields: Bio-hazardous?

[ian_dsouza]

I am meeting a professor this week to see if I can work in his lab. His area of research is magnetism. In a preliminary meeting, he told me that the 'ambient' magnetic field in the lab is about twice the magnetic field of the earth. I spent about 10 minutes in the lab. There was a machine with a high-speed faulty bearing that made a really loud screeching sound. I'm not sure if it was the ambient magnetic field or the loud noise that gave me a slight headache, increased muscle tension and strained my neck a bit. Does working for prolonged periods of time in such magnetic fields pose a general risk and in particular, affect neuronal activity, keeping in mind neuronal plasticity.

 

[CWatters]

he told me that the 'ambient' magnetic field in the lab is about twice the magnetic field of the earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(magnetic_field )

31 µT ... strength of Earth's magnetic field at 0° latitude (on the equator)
58 µT ... strength of Earth's magnetic field at 50° latitude
5 mT ... the strength of a typical refrigerator magnet
1.5 T to 3 T ... strength of medical magnetic resonance imaging systems..

I think it's more likely to be the loud noise that caused the headache.
I know nothing about "neuronal plasticity".

 

[christopher.s]

The noise would probably lead to more immediate physical stress than the static magnetic field. Have you done any searching? A simple google search for static magnetic fields bio hazard returned a few good pieces. Bottom line; the magnetic field definitely will have some biological effects, but they are probably not extremely hazardous (unless of course you have implants or a pacemaker.) If the magnetic fields are alternating than the frequency definitely plays a part in their safety, generally with higher frequency fields being more hazardous.

http://sb-sst.epfl.ch/page-22925-en.html

http://www.engineering.dartmouth.edu/~d76205x/research/shielding/docs/Schenck_00.pdf

http://www.stfc.ac.uk/she/resources/pdf/sc39.pdf

 

[rootone]

I would think people working in such environments as hydroelectric dams would be exposed to much higher magnetic fields,
and have never heard of health issues being associated with that.

 

[russ_watters]

Have you done any searching? A simple google search for static magnetic fields bio hazard returned a few good pieces. Bottom line; the magnetic field definitely will have some biological effects, but they are probably not extremely hazardous (unless of course you have implants or a pacemaker.) If the magnetic fields are alternating than the frequency definitely plays a part in their safety, generally with higher frequency fields being more hazardous.

Higher intensity fields *might* have some effects, but the field being described by the OP is almost nothing and there is no (accepted) evidence that low level magnetic fields are hazardous. And there is a lot lot of crackpottery on the internet about it: it's one of the archetypal modern media-science hoaxes.

 

[rootone]

I wouldn't want to be standing next to one of the LHC magnets when it's operating though ...

 

[Vanadium 50]

The magnet in a telephone speaker has a stronger field than twice the earth's, and I wouldn't mind standing next to an LHC dipole - I'd be more worried about the cryogens than the magnetic field.

 

[rootone]

My concern is that all the iron atoms in my hemogoblin molecules would be very disturbed.
But sure, I'd be deep frozen before I had second thought

 

[Vanadium 50]

Ferromagnetism is a property of bulk iron, not iron atoms. And the field strength can't just be ignored - the Earth's field is tiny, and twice the Earth's field is almost as tiny, compared to common magnets.

 

[ian_dsouza]

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated. About the sound of the high-speed bearing... The spectrum definitely might have had a high frequency peak along with some lower frequency ones (I'm not good at quantifying frequencies). I think I may use some noise isolating headphones. If there is any adverse effect especially from mid-range and high frequencies reaching the ear, the phones might help. I guess if one of the peaks matches a resonant frequency of a body part, there's not much I can do about that. Just some thoughts.

 

[rootone]

A loud noise can make anyone uncomfortable, but high frequency noise is certainly more annoying to me.
I can take the roar of aircraft engines loud as it is, but find things such as electric drills if they go on long enough, make me feel nauseous.
I don't think that is to do with a physical resonance though, more likely something like adrenaline in me getting pumped up.

 

[CWatters]

Offer to fix the bearing?