Characteristics of the Immune and Neuroendocrine Status of Children Exposed to Non-Ionizing Radiation in the School Environment

Abstract

Introduction: The modern educational environment involves the use of various electronic devices generating physical hazards. In addition to the widespread use of these devices, other physical factors of the school environment also affect schoolchildren’s health. However, the impact of the combined exposure to physical factors of various nature on the regulatory systems of the body has been studied insufficiently so far. However, the influence of a complex of physical factors of various nature on the regulatory systems of the body has not been sufficiently studied. Objective: To evaluate the features of the immune and neuroendocrine status of schoolchildren exposed to heterogeneous physical factors of a non-ionizing nature at school and to analyze the relationship between the studied physical factors and changes in the parameters of regulatory systems. Materials and methods: The exposed group included 144 students of a gymnasium from the city of Perm and the unexposed (reference) group consisted of 114 schoolchildren from the town of Kungur, Perm Region. We measured physical factors of the school environment, including noise, artificial illumination, electromagnetic radiation, and air ion concentrations affecting elementary, secondary, and high school students from both groups and compared the results with respective permissible levels. The indicators of immune (CD-phenotyping, phagocytic activity of leukocytes, concentrations of immunoglobulins and cytokines) and neuroendocrine (TSH, free T4, and cortisol) systems were established and compared. Mathematical models were calculated and analyzed in order to find the links between the exposure to physical factors under study and the parameters of the immune and neuroendocrine systems. Results: The indoor air study showed differences in the number and charge of air ions between the gymnasium with its numerous e-learning tools and the school of comparison. The study of the immune and neuroendocrine systems in the exposed group revealed age-related changes in the expression of lymphocyte subpopulations, moderate changes in humoral and phagocytic parameters, an imbalance in the expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and hormones. The construction of logistic regression models allowed us to establish the link between the parameters of electromagnetic radiation in the school environment and changes in the immune status of students (CD19+ and CD3+CD8+ lymphocytes). Conclusion: The study demonstrated a number of changes in the regulatory systems of schoolchildren associated with the impact of physical factors of the school environment.