Is the weakening of the magnetic field in space associated with the risk of errors in the activities of astronauts?

Kaspranski Rustem Ramilevich PhD in Medicine Deputy Director for Science; Federal State Budgetary Institution 'Federal Scientific and Clinical Center for Space Medicine' FMBA of Russia 23 Gamalei str., building 2, Moscow, 123098, Russia kaspranski@mail.ru Bingi Vladimir Nikolaevich ORCID: 0000-0003-1341-9591 Doctor of Physics and Mathematics Chief Researcher; Federal State Budgetary Institution 'Federal Scientific and Clinical Center for Space Medicine' FMBA of Russia 23 Gamalei str., building 2, Moscow, 123098, Russia vnbin@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Koshel Ivan Vladimirovich Doctor of Medicine Acting Director; Federal State Budgetary Institution 'Federal Scientific and Clinical Center for Space Medicine' FMBA of Russia 23 Gamalei str., building 2, Moscow, 123098, Russia koshel1979@mail.ru

Introduction

The effect of weak magnetic fields (MP) is described in many monographs ^[1-5]. It has been established that MP can initiate various, including toxic, phenomena in organisms^[6].

It is well known that the Earth is a magnet, i.e. it has its own magnetic field, the magnitude of which is about 50 µT^[7]. This field is relatively small, and therefore in ordinary life we do not notice it. However, you can verify the ubiquitous presence of the geomagnetic field (geoMP) using a compass or smartphone. For comparison, here are the levels of MP that are often found in human life. This is the field of a conventional medical tomograph — it is tens of thousands of times larger than a geoMP. On the contrary, additional MPas acting on electric transport passengers are tens and hundreds of times less than GEOMPS^[8].

Biological tissues are generally diamagnetic. Their reaction to MP, due to the magnetism of the atoms and molecules that make up the tissue, is very small. The relative magnitude of these effects is 10-6 in order of magnitude^[9]. For this reason, it has been believed for a long time that organisms are not sensitive to MP. Although individual attempts to use MP in therapy have been known for more than a hundred years, it was only relatively recently, about 40-50 years ago, that it was reliably established that living cells can respond to MP with their behavior, i.e. in a way inherent in life^[10]. These reactions disappear along with the cessation of the functioning of the cell as a living system. It turns out, therefore, that MP does not act on tissue molecules, but on biological processes, although the primary acceptors are the magnetic moments of molecules. The phenomenon occurs at the molecular level and is quantum^[11].

It has been established that various organisms, like the human body, can respond to the smallest changes in MP, which make up approximately one thousandth of the geoMP. These phenomena include magnetic navigation of animals^[12] and cardiovascular reactions to magnetic storms^[13]. However, it is not always possible to observe such effects in the laboratory, since they generally have a random character already at the molecular level. Their effect is imperceptible against the background of the action of various uncontrolled physico-chemical factors^[14]. However, these phenomena are clearly visible statistically in large—scale studies - in epidemiological studies of the association of background MP with morbidity^[15,16].

The effects initiated by a significant weakening of GEOMPS — by a factor of one hundred or more — are of particular interest. Such MP are called hypomagnetic, or hypoMP, (from other Greek. iota pi o' — under, below). The suppression of GEOMPS in laboratory conditions is accompanied by changes in the biochemical parameters and behavior of a wide variety of organisms: from bacteria and fungi to mammals and humans, see e.g. reviews^[17-20].

The purpose of this review is to provide an initial understanding of hypoMP, its effect on the human body and the molecular mechanism of influence, with an emphasis on the possibility of such effects in deep space missions.

Hypomagnetic field

The MP in the space around the Earth is determined mainly by the Earth's own geoMP and the flow of charged particles from the Sun. As a result of their interaction, a complex magnetic structure is formed — the magnetosphere^[21].

For rough estimates of MP outside the Earth, one can use the idealization according to which the geoMP is a magnetic dipole field. It decreases as you move away from the Earth. Thus, the magnitude of the MP on the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 408 km is about 0.8 geoMP, and its direction changes to the opposite at the orbit. At distances from the Earth of the order of the size of the Earth and more, the geoMP decreases rapidly, approximately inversely proportional to the cube of the distance, so that at distances of more than 100 thousand km, the geoMP is less than 10 nanotesla (NT). In interplanetary space, the MP is much weaker than the geomagnetic one, amounting to 2-80 NT ^{[22 (p. 396)]}, which is three to four orders of magnitude less than the near—surface geoMP. HypoMP is considered as one of the factors that, during long-term missions to the Moon and Mars, can affect the health of astronauts and the perfection of their operations^[23].

Information about the Moon's MP was obtained from the analysis of lunar rock samples during the Apollo program, as well as from magnetometric data from the Lunar Prospector and Kaguya programs^[24]. The MP of the Lunar crust is heterogeneous; the heterogeneity reaches values of the order of 1 NT per degree^[25]. Measurements are hampered by magnetic interference due to solar radiation. At an altitude of 30 km above the lunar surface, the magnetic induction is very small, mainly on the order of 1 NT with rare anomalies, where the MP reaches values of about 10 NT or more. On the surface of the Moon, near lunar rocks that are heterogeneous in residual magnetization, MP can reach local values of several hundred NT. The Martian MP is less than a few microtesla. It has a complex dynamic structure in the form of small- and large-scale inhomogeneities ranging in size from tens to several thousand km. In general, the MP of Mars can be characterized rather by a uniform distribution of local magnetic anomalies, in which the absolute value of MP can vary from 1-5 NT to 20-40 NT, and in some anomalies up to 1600 NT at an altitude of 100 kilometers^[26].

In 2017, a review of 137 experimental papers on the biological action of the hypomagnetic field and possible molecular mechanisms of such action was published^[17]. The experiments were selected from about two hundred available at that time, according to the criteria of methodological quality of the work. In the subsequent interval from 2017 to 2023, about 90 more publications appeared, Fig. 1. Their distribution by countries represented by the authors of the publications is interesting: Russia – 46, China – 28, North America – 14, Italy – 7, Germany – 3, Great Britain – 2, 9 more countries – 9.

Fig. 1. Distribution of publications on the biological effects of the hypomagnetic field for 2017-2023 by country.

Fig. 1. The distribution of publications on the biological effects of the hypomagnetic field from 2017 to 2023, by country.

Russia, China and North America are the main "investors" of research in this area. They account for about 80% of the work. It can be seen that Russian and Chinese works prevail over North American ones. This is most likely due to the lack of a definitively established molecular mechanism of the phenomenon and, consequently, the still fundamental nature of research in this field^[27]. These factors hinder practical applications, while Western countries primarily invest in applied developments.

However, today there is a noticeable acceleration of research in the field of magnetobiology. Over the past decade, three high-tech laboratories have been deployed in China alone, where the effects of hypoMP are being studied. In these and other laboratories, in particular, the genes involved in the formation of a biological response to hypoMP are determined ^[28-36]. It is already known that the simultaneous action of, for example, radiation and MP has synergism and is not reduced to the sum of the actions of radiation and MP separately ^[37-39]. Theoretically, progress is not so great, but work is underway to find a biophysical mechanism for the biological effectiveness of HYPOMPS and allows us to hope for a quick solution to this problem^[11]. As a result, the primary biophysical target of MP action on the body will be determined. There are suggestions that it is the cellular process of protein translation in ribosomes^[40]. This complex multistage enzyme mechanism involves the formation of so-called spin-correlated radical pairs, which are magnetically sensitive, in the translation process^[41].

The reaction of the human body to hypoMP

Not much is known about the biological effect of MP on the human body. On the one hand, there are numerous epidemiological studies that generally confirm the connection between human health and the level of background electromagnetic fields^[42]. However, epidemiological studies establish only correlations, without providing information about cause-and-effect relationships. Laboratory studies of the effects of MP and especially hypoMP on humans are relatively few. This is due to the fact that the creation of MP and hypoMP in a volume that allows a person to stay for a long time is a difficult technical task^[43]. Therefore, in most studies, when measuring psychophysiological reactions, they are limited to the magnetic exposure of parts of the body^[44]. There are only a few publications on the effect of hypomps on the whole body.

In ^[45], the reversal of the MP direction with a magnitude of about geoMP led to a decrease in human night vision acuity: the number of errors in recognizing the contrast stimulus increased 2-3 times. In ^[46], muscle tremor in 24 subjects was assessed under conditions of 1 MT pulse MP in a double-blind protocol of real/simulated exposure. The authors found that the effects were "small" and that subjects with high-amplitude tremors appeared to be more sensitive to the effects of MP. Interpretation of these data is difficult because the authors do not report the switching speed of MP and, therefore, do not take into account the effects of magnetic induction. In ^[47], the head region of 17 subjects was exposed in 60 Hz MP with a value of 200 µT in the form of 2-second pulses. A statistically significant occurrence of evoked potentials in EEG measurements at the moments of switching on/off the MP was revealed. Obviously, interpretation is difficult for the same reason as above. A response not to MP, but to eddy currents induced in the brain is not excluded.

Information about the effect of hypoMP on the human body is scarce, despite the obvious practical significance of this phenomenon. Staying in hypoMP affects the cognitive functions of the human body. In one of the first works of this plan^[48], an 8-meter rectangular coil system was used. Four subjects were in its central area for three weeks. The response of one of the cognitive functions to a week-long stay in the hypoMP was up to 30% in three subjects. No changes in physiological characteristics were observed. The level of MP fluctuations, which often exceeds the residual constant MP in the exposure area, was not measured. This could explain the lack of physiological reactions.

In ^[49], in a series of experiments, the subjects' heads were placed in a magnetic exposure system in which either a geoMP analog or a hypoMP was created. The sensitivity of the visual system to light flashes was measured. The sensitivity change of up to 7% was statistically significant. In the research cycle^[50], the effect of hypoMP 0.4 MCT on the cognitive characteristics of 40 subjects was investigated. Staying in the hypoMP for 45 minutes caused statistically significant changes in five of the eight measured characteristics with effects ranging from 1.3 to 6.2%. The number of errors in the hypoMP increased and the task completion time increased. The change in pupil area in the hypoMP was close to statistically significant^[51].

A cubic two-meter magnetic exposure system was used in ^[52] to expose subjects in MP of the geoMP order. The alpha rhythm of the EEG was measured in response to the rotation of the MP in the horizontal plane. The response was observed when the static vertical magnetic field was directed downward, but not upward. The authors believe that this excludes all forms of electrical induction, including artifacts from electrodes. The effects had a vivid individual character.

The ability to magnetic orientation of 34 men was tested in the 1.9-m system of three pairs of Helmholtz coils in ^[53]. The authors found that the testers correctly indicated the direction to the magnetic north in the absence of sensory channels, in particular with their eyes closed if they were previously exposed to geoMP for several minutes. If the preliminary exposure was carried out in a hypoMP, the subsequent correct orientation was not achieved.

In the course of work on the topic "Serena Magnet", the staff of the Research Institute of Space Medicine (now FNCC Space Medicine FMBA), together with the Scientific and Clinical Center of Russian Railways, conducted pilot studies of the effect of combined effects of hypogravity and an altered magnetic field on physiological shifts in the human body^[54]. The research was carried out using the "Harp" and "Faraday" magnetic exposure systems developed by one of the authors of this article and manufactured under his supervision (https://binhi.info , accessed 30.06.2024). Using the cubic 3-m Faraday system, Fig. 2, it was proved for the first time that insignificant fluctuations of GEOMPS are one of the direct causes of the observed correlations of geomagnetic disturbance and the physiological state of organisms^[55]. It has been shown that hypoMP causes statistically significant changes in some physiological characteristics of the human body^[56,57].

Fig. 2. The Faraday magnetic exposure system, designed for monitoring local MP, in particular, for recording and subsequent reproduction of magnetic storms in laboratory conditions.

Fig. 2: Magnetic exposure system "Faraday", designed for monitoring local magnetic fields, specifically for recording and reproducing magnetic storms in a laboratory setting.

At the same time, no such changes were found in ^[58]. In this work, the "Harp" exposure system was used, as in previous works in which the effect was observed, but the system was moved to another building. Note that the "Harp" allows you to compensate for MP and its fluctuations only on one axis. On other axes, the MP value is minimized only by the orientation of the main axis of the exposure box along the averaged geoMP vector. Fluctuations of the local MP along perpendicular axes are not eliminated. The level of fluctuations varies greatly depending on the location of the system and can reach values of the order of microtesla in a large city. It is unclear why the authors do not publish this information, while at the same time claiming a thousandfold suppression of geoMP. The presence of residual fluctuations in MP means that the magnitude of the created hypoMP can vary tenfold depending on the location, which definitely affects the reproducibility of the observed magnetic phenomena.

In ^[59], eight men were examined with double-blind control, who were in the "Harp" in a hypoMP of about 100 nTl (see, however, the above remark) for up to 24 hours. 48 biochemical parameters were determined from venous blood samples. It was found that exposure causes physical fatigue without pronounced subjective sensations. Dry blood stains were also examined chromatographically^[60]; according to these data, the effect of hypoMP was either absent or unreliable due to insufficient statistics.

In one of the latest publications ^[61], it is reported about the exposure of six men in the Arfa system with a decrease in geoMP up to 1000 times for 32 hours. Unfortunately, the article lacks formulations of statistical hypotheses and details of the data processing method, which does not allow us to draw reliable conclusions. Nevertheless, one could agree with the authors' conclusion about the different effects of hypoMP on subjects in groups with a predominance of sympathetic and parasympathetic influences. This requires further research using more advanced adaptive magnetic exposure systems.

On the one hand, as can be seen, there are only about ten independent research teams that have studied the effect of hypoMP on the human body, and a slightly larger number of publications. This is not enough for any classifications of the data obtained or for reliable generalizations, especially since there are no results reproduced by different laboratories yet. On the other hand, there is already a lot of data on the effect of hypomps on organisms in general. These data allow classification by physical^[17] and biological^[18,20] parameters. They clearly show that the effects of hypoMP are present in almost all organisms and at all levels of organization. In other words, this is a fundamental phenomenon that requires in-depth study, especially in relation to the human body.

Thus, the available data on the effect of hypoMP on the human body are contradictory and do not yet have proper consistency. We can only conclude that in response to exposure to hypoMP, there is a tendency to adverse consequences, expressed in a decrease in the perfection of cognitive functions on average. At the same time, the testers show multidirectional individual effects of up to 10% in tests on the sensitivity of the visual analyzer, on the number of errors and task completion time^[14,62]. This has a direct bearing on the long—term stay of astronauts at base stations during future deep space missions - MP in them will be 100 or more times less than on Earth. HypoMP, along with hypogravity and radiation, can be a risk factor for astronauts and their activities.

Molecular mechanisms of action of hypoMP

A detailed discussion of the possible molecular mechanisms of action of HYPOMPS is available in ^[17]. The effect of MP on organisms generally implies an action on the magnetic moments of atoms and molecules with necessity. This requirement distinguishes plausible mechanisms from a large number of proposed ones. The most discussed to date is the spin-chemical mechanism of radical pairs, in which MP acts on the spin magnetic moments of electrons of radical pairs ^[63-65]. The problem is that the sensitivity of this mechanism to MP is low and does not yet correspond to the magnitude of the observed phenomena. Therefore, alternative mechanisms of the influence of MP on abstract single magnetic moments^[66], on the magnetic moments of nuclei^[67,68] and the orbital motion of molecular groups inside proteins and in other biophysical structures have also been developed^[17,69]. Another possibility is the effect of MP on the macroscopic magnetic moments of magnetic nanoparticles, see e.g.^[70,71], present in many organisms. However, this mechanism is implausible in organisms such as plants and various bacteria, where there are obviously no magnetic nanoparticles, but there is a response to a change in MP. It should be noted that many proposed mechanisms based on the Lorentz force, cyclotron and parametric resonance, etc., are of only historical interest today^[11].

Recently, a scenario has been proposed for amplification of small primary chemical signals in response to changes in external MP^[40], which can eliminate the lack of sensitivity of the spin-chemical mechanism. Sensitivity can be enhanced by two to three orders of magnitude by the inclusion of spin-correlated radical pairs in the work of biopolymer enzymes, in particular ribosomal enzymes. In this case, the primary MP signal is transformed into an increase in the number of incorrectly folded non-functional and often toxic protein globules. This creates an additional burden on the protective functions of the body and affects the speed and accuracy of cognitive processes.

Discussion

In the Russian Federation, there are sanitary standards SanPiN 2.1.8/2.2.4.2489-09 according to which the stay in the MP, weakened by 4 times, should be no more than two hours a day. This limits the adverse effects of hypoMP on humans in industrial, residential and public buildings and structures. Such a restriction, by the very fact of its existence, indicates the recognition of the adverse effects of hypoMP on human health.

In conditions of long-range space flight and planned missions with prolonged human stay on the Moon and Mars, the effects of HYPOMPS will be chronic. The possible consequences of such a long exposure of the human body to hypoMP are still unclear. However, it can be argued that hypoMP, along with hypogravity and radiation, is a risk factor for the health and activities of astronauts.

There is information that the effect of MP on cells markedly changes the magnitude of the effects of ionizing radiation in them^[38]. In other words, radiation and MP have a synergistic effect. It is possible that hypoMP enhances the negative effects of ionizing radiation and micro- and hypogravity. To date, the effects of paired combined effects of these three factors on the human body have not been studied. Thus, the development of an experimental model of the combined effects of a hypomagnetic medium, hypogravity and ionizing radiation is an urgent scientific task.

It is known that the effect of MP on the human body has an individual character ^[46,47,62]. For this reason, arrays of values of body characteristics measured in experience are heterogeneous, i.e. they do not belong to a single statistical population. Therefore, standard statistical methods are not enough to process heterogeneous results of experiments in the field of magnetobiology, since a simple averaging of the observed deviations from a statistical sample of testers gives a close to zero effect. Special statistical methods are required to obtain reliable conclusions^[14].

It is not easy to substantiate the nature of hypoMP effects and assess the magnitude of the risk, since it is necessary to create hypoMP in laboratory conditions on Earth and test a considerable number of animals and testers. There are no manufacturers of hypomagnetic exposure systems. Each device is unique, expensive and high-tech. Currently, a special project is being developed at the Federal Scientific and Clinical Center for Space Medicine of the FMBA, the result of which will be scientific assessments of the risks of chronic stay in hypoMP and appropriate protective equipment. Methods for testing candidate astronauts for individual sensitivity to MP attenuation will be developed. Understanding of the nature of the ubiquitous fundamental phenomenon of MP action on organisms will increase.

The following tasks could be among the priorities in this direction. 1) Analysis of existing tools and methods for creating HYPOMPS similar to those expected in manned interplanetary missions. 2) Development and creation of experimental devices for the exposure of humans and small laboratory animals in hypoMP. 3) Conducting experimental studies to clarify the mechanisms of the effect of hypoMP on living organisms. 4) Conducting experimental studies to assess cognitive functions and physiological shifts in the human body under conditions of combined action of hypoMP and hypogravity, in conditions characteristic of a manned flight to the Moon. 5) Theoretical study of the mechanisms of the combined effect on the body of a complex of factors inherent in an interplanetary manned expedition.

Conclusion

Today, it has been reliably established that hypoMP changes the functioning of organisms from bacteria and fungi to mammals and humans. These effects have a pronounced random and individual character, which requires special statistical methods for processing the results. The effect of hypoMP on the human body has not been studied sufficiently to draw conclusions about its effect on health and cognitive performance. Prolonged human exposure to hypoMP is, along with hypogravity and ionizing radiation, one of the adverse environmental factors. Due to the lack of a sufficient number of experimental, observational and theoretical studies, it is still impossible to unequivocally answer the question posed in the title of the article. In this situation, the precautionary principle as a reasonable risk management strategy provides for continued research.

In this regard, studies of the effect of chronic hypomnia on human health and the development of means and methods of protection are relevant and necessary measures to ensure human medical safety, — to preserve his health and efficiency in interplanetary space flights.