Radiation From Cell Phones And Wireless Devices Harms Your Unborn Baby’s Brain Development
By Susan Scutti | Jun 3, 2014 01:19 PM EDT
“I would
never drink or smoke while pregnant!” Most expectant mothers understand that
carrying a child means taking extra safety measures to protect the growing
life. Unfortunately, too many mothers-to-be are not aware that, along with
chemicals, certain foods, and somebeverages, they also need to avoid radiation
from phones, wireless routers, and laptop computers in order to safeguard
their babies.
“The
science is compelling and growing and women have an absolute right to know
about it in order to make an informed decision,” said Patricia Wood, executive
director of Grassroots Environmental Education, in her opening remarks during
the BabySafe News Conference on Tuesday. BabySafe is a
national campaign to raise awareness about an issue too few pregnant women
understand: that their exposure to wireless radiation may interfere with their
child's brain development, resulting in behavioral problems, including symptoms resembling
ADHD. Though the BabySafe program is new — with an onlinequiz to help mothers understand
exposure levels — it echoes an old theme familiar to pregnant women
worldwide: better safe than sorry.
Hyperactive Symptoms
“Don’t
keep your phone on you at all times,” advised Dr. Hugh Taylor of Yale
University School of Medicine. “Move it away from you. Keep exposure to a
minimum.” Taylor, who is chair of the department of obstetrics, gynecology, and
reproductive sciences, is author of a study on pregnancy, cell phone radiation,
and behavioral changes in mice, published in Scientific Reports.
Because it is so difficult to trace a specific environmental influence on a
developing fetus — mothers are exposed to many potential influences so it is
difficult to determine the exact effects of just one — he and his colleagues
designed a special animal study in order to isolate cell phone use and study
its effects on babies before they were born.
The
experiment worked like this: Taylor and his team of researchers exposed one
group of 42 pregnant mice to a muted and silenced phone that had been turned on
and was actively receiving a signal, and, to compare, they also exposed a
second group of 42 pregnant mice to a cell phone that was turned off and not
receiving a signal. Otherwise, all environmental conditions, including food
and accommodation,
were identical. The pregnant mice were exposed throughout their entire
pregnancies and then their offspring were tested when adults.
What did
Taylor and his colleagues observe? Compared to the mice who had not been
exposed to cell phone radiation, the exposed mice had decreased memory, more
likely to be hyper active, and, in Taylor’s words, “didn’t have a care in the
world. They were very different from the mice who had not been exposed.” He
likened their behavior to that of children with attention deficit
hyper-activity disorder (ADHD or ADD), which is a common and increasing
diagnosis for young children. In fact, the exposed mice had different
electrical activity in their brains.
On the
positive side, Taylor said very short exposures were similar to no exposure,
and the change in brain activity generally increased with higher levels of
exposure. In other words, by limiting her own exposure to radiation, a mother
might effectively protect her unborn child.
Out-of-Date Standards
“Cell
phones have never been tested for safety,” said Dr. Devra Davis, UC Berkeley
and the author of Disconnect, which
explores the issue of radiation exposure. She explained that though scientists
performed limited investigations into safety when cell phones first came into
popular use, the standards were established 18 years ago. She also noted that
cell phones had never been tested in realistic ways, mimicking the habits of
most people. No one has assessed safety, for instance, when a cell phone is
held directly against the ear or carried in the breast pocket. Standards, then,
are not only dated but also inaccurate.
“As
someone who has been working in the field of public health… I’ve seen how
America discusses issues of public health and safety,” Davis said. Generally,
she explained, we insist on proof of human harm and human damage before we act
and in the end “people pay the price for those delays.” Along with echoing
Taylor’s advice, she suggested women avoid cordless phones, especially where
they sleep.
“Eleven
percent of children carry a diagnosis of ADHD,” said Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klein,
integrative pediatric neurologist and founder of Brainmending. She added that currently, one out of every
five children has been diagnosed with a mental illness. In her own practice,
she finds the most common question she is asked by parents is: Why? Why is my
child affected? Though Shetreat-Klein can give no real answer to parents —
disorders are complex and can’t be explained by a single factor — growing
scientific evidence supports the conclusion that in utero exposure is linked to
behavioral problems in children.
“Parents
have a right to know,” she said before advising pregnant women to turn off
their phones and WiFi at night or whenever it’s not needed.
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