Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields disrupt magnetic alignment of ruminants med./bio.

To show that extremely low frequency magnetic fields generated by high-voltage lines disrupt alignment of the bodies of ruminants with the geomagnetic field.

Cattle and roe deer in open pastures show very consistent North-South alignment, as found in a previous study by the authors (Begall et a. 2008). The authors presumed an alignment to the geomagnetic field via magnetoreception.
Cattle (n=1699) in 153 locations in Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands were analyzed. Roe deer (n=653 in 47 herds) was studied in Czech Republic. Animals were observed grazing and resting under power lines (cattle: no more than 150 m away, roe deer: no more than 50 m away) (remark EMF-Portal: the magnetic field strength was not determined). The control animals (cattle: n=1488 in 111 localities in Europe, roe deer: n=1912 at 201 localities in Czech Republic) were observed in localities without overhead high-voltage lines (remark EMF-Portal: as control cattle were chosen from all over Europe, it is not clear whether the conditions were comparable to the exposure group).

• animal
• cattle and roe deer
• whole body

Control animals aligned their body axes in the geomagnetic North-South direction. For cattle and roe deer near power lines, two observations were made. Altogether, the orientation of animals near power lines (<150 m or <50 m distance, respectively) was random, i.e. no preference for orienting their body axes in a certain direction could be revealed. However, directly under or in direct vicinity of power lines (<5 m), cattle exhibited distinct patterns of alignment with respect to the direction of the power lines in relation to the geomagnetic field. This was attributed to the influence of the extremely low frequency magnetic fields of the transmission lines on the perception of the geomagnetic field (magnetoreception) in animals. The disturbing effect of the extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields decreased with the distance from conductors.
The results provide evidence that spontaneous directional preference in cattle and deer represents a case of magnetic alignment and that it may be influenced by extremely low frequency magnetic fields.