Invisible Hazards

A mother-to-be sits with her laptop against her growing belly, excitedly e-mailing images from her latest ultrasound while she chats with her mom. Next door, a young mother makes plans for her day while her toddler sits in her lap, playing with her cell phone. Neither sees the risks around them.

Invisible Hazards
A wireless wake-up call for modern families

By Kerry Crofton, PhD

Electro-magnetic radiation (EMR) may be invisible, but as physicians and research scientists around the world are telling us, it certainly isn’t harmless, especially for children, babies and pregnant women.

Credible studies tell us that this kind of radiation affects every system of the body, causing, among other biological effects, DNA damage, suppression of the immune system, disruption of neurological, cardiovascular and hormonal systems, leakage of the blood-brain barrier, and cognitive impairments.

Studies from two European labs, published in Physics in Medicine and Biology (June 7, 2008) show that young children’s brains absorb twice as much radiation from a cell phone as the brains of adults.

It’s not just mobile phones, though. Every wireless device emits EMR, including PDAs, wireless Internet, and cordless phones, especially the high-power digital ones. Work environments can also have invisible hazards.

10 Ways to Reduce Radiation Risks:

1. If you are pregnant, avoid the use of cell phones, cordless phones and PDAs. If you must use one, keep calls very brief, and keep the device turned off as much as possible. You (and your baby) are being exposed even when it is on standby.
2. Replace all cordless phones with corded landlines. The base emits high levels 24/7.
3. Use a hard-wired Internet connection rather than wireless.
4. Don’t use a laptop on your lap—put it on a desk.
5. Keep wireless devices away from babies and small children, especially in their sleeping areas; this includes baby monitors.
6. Avoid using a microwave oven. If you must use one, stand back at least 15 feet while it is on.
7. Avoid using heating pads, electric blankets and other wired devices—even clock radios—close to your body. Make your sleeping areas low-electronics sanctuaries.
8. Discuss the risks and benefits of diagnostic ultrasound with your physician, and only have scans when medically indicated.
9. Avoid full-body security scanners when you’re pregnant; inform security staff and request a hand “pat down.” This is done by a female security guard, and you avoid the radiation exposure.
10. Choose digital dental X-rays—these have lower radiation emissions.

Researchers at McGill University, who’d been following the pregnancies of a group of women working in a room full of electric sewing machines, have raised concerns that a mother’s exposure to electro-magnetic radiation during pregnancy, or even just before she conceives, may be putting her child at risk of developing certain types of brain cancer.

In Japan, with its massive concentration of electro-smog from wireless communications, an unusually high number of women are reported to be suffering miscarriages in their last trimester. (Men should know that carrying a powered-on cell phone in a trouser pocket has been shown to reduce fertility.)

Prenatal ultrasound scans can be very helpful in diagnosing whether a fetus is growing normally, and there have been no abnormalities linked directly to diagnostic ultrasound; still, obstetricians in Canada and the U.S. caution that there is a theoretical risk for subtle effects on fetal development, since the scan involves targeted energy exposure to the baby.

Frequent ultrasound just for the thrill of seeing your baby is not recommended. Some technicians in for-profit clinics have been known to turn up the scan intensity and try to reposition the fetus, to get a better photo.

Some radiologists, including one interviewed by BBC News, are concerned about the potential effects of radiation from full-body security scanners on pregnant women. They urge women who are pregnant, or even think they could be, to use caution while traveling.

Many skeptics feel that we will never abandon, or even modify, our dependency on mobile communication. So convenient. So cool. So everywhere.

Still, a growing number of pregnant women and families are hearing this wireless wake-up call and embracing science-based solutions.

Kerry Crofton is the author of Wireless Radiation Rescue – Safeguarding your family from the risks of electro-pollution, recently honored with the 2010 Gold Mom’s Choice Award. To contact her or find out more, visit RadiationRescue.org.