ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Radiation and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1645108
This article is part of the Research TopicIndividual Sensitivity to Wireless RadiationView all 7 articles
Nanoparticle-EMF synergism: A study on the combined effects on developmental and behavioural endpoints in Drosophila melanogaster
Provisionally accepted
- DRDO Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, New Delhi, India
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The accelerated progression of modern technologies has exponentially amplified the pervasive presence of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and nanoparticles (NPs) in various environments, from military arsenals to domestic settings. Despite extensive research on individual exposures, the cumulative effect of EMF and NPs co-exposure on biological systems remains poorly understood. This study investigates the combitorial effects of 2.4GHz EMF and zinc oxide (ZnO) NP exposure on Drosophila melanogaster across subsequent generations. We assessed various biological endpoints, including longevity, motor-neuronal responses, oxidative stress response, memory and learning responses, and phenotypic abnormalities. Flies were exposed to 2.4 GHz EMF for 10, 20, and 30 minutes independently and in combination with 0.1mM and 0.5mM ZnO NPs through the ingestion method. Our results showed that exposure to EMF significantly increased fly survival from day 14 to 50 following 10 minutes, with a more pronounced and sustained effect observed at 20 minutes (from day 14 to end of cycle). Independent exposure to 0.1 mM ZnO NPs had no observable effect on survival, whereas 0.5 mM NPs showed a steep decline from day 7. However, coexposure with 20-minute EMF improved survival ability, inducing longevity from day 17 to 32 with 0.1mM ZnO NPs, and from day 14 to 39 with 0.5 mM ZnO NPs. Behavioural impairments, elevated oxidative stress, and declined memory and learning abilities were observed. Furthermore, tergite patterning and pigmentation abnormalities were induced by EMF exposure, which were reversed over the subsequent generations. These findings highlight the complex, dose-and time-dependent biological responses to combined EMF and NP exposure. Our study emphasises the need for further investigation into the potential risks and applications of these combitorial interactions.
Keywords: Combitorial effects, Zinc oxide nanoparticle, electromagnetic field, Drosophila melanogaster, Phenotypic abnormalities, Longevity, multigenerational effects
Received: 11 Jun 2025; Accepted: 28 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bhandari, Anand, Verma, Regmi, ., Prasad and Kohli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ekta Kohli, DRDO Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, New Delhi, India
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.