Maternal exposure to mobile phone radiation may affect occurrence of speech problems in offspring (pilot study?)

A Challenging Issue in the Etiology of Speech Problems: The Effect of Maternal Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields on Speech Problems in the Offspring

Zarei S1, Mortazavi SM2, Mehdizadeh AR3, Jalalipour M1, Borzou S1, Taeb S4, Haghani M5, Mortazavi SA6, Shojaei-Fard MB5, Nematollahi S7, Alighanbari N8, Jarideh S5. A Challenging Issue in the Etiology of Speech Problems: The Effect of Maternal Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields on Speech Problems in the Offspring. J Biomed Phys Eng. 2015 Sep 1;5(3):151-4. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, mothers are continuously exposed to different sources of electromagnetic fields before and even during pregnancy.  It has recently been shown that exposure to mobile phone radiation during pregnancy may lead to adverse effects on the brain development in offspring and cause hyperactivity. Researchers have shown that behavioral problems in laboratory animals which have a similar appearance to ADHD are caused by intrauterine exposure to mobile phones.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the maternal exposure to different sources of electromagnetic fields affect on the rate and severity of speech problems in their offspring.

METHODS: In this study, mothers of 35 healthy 3-5 year old children (control group) and 77 children and diagnosed with speech problems who had been referred to a speech treatment center in Shiraz, Iran were interviewed. These mothers were asked whether they had exposure to different sources of electromagnetic fields such as mobile phones, mobile base stations, Wi-Fi, cordless phones, laptops and power lines.

RESULTS: We found a significant association between either the call time (P=0.002) or history of mobile phone use (months used) and speech problems in the offspring (P=0.003). However, other exposures had no effect on the occurrence of speech problems. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate a possible association between maternal exposure to electromagnetic field and speech problems in the offspring. Although a major limitation in our study is the relatively small sample size, this study indicates that the maternal exposure to common sources of electromagnetic fields such as mobile phones can affect the occurrence of speech problems in the offspring.

Open Access Paper: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4576876/

Excerpts
... Recent findings show that exposure to electromagnetic radiation in radiofrequency range (EMR-RF) emitted by mobile phones during pregnancy may lead to adverse effects on the brain development in offspring which causes hyperactivity. Researchers have shown that behavioral problems in laboratory animals which have a similar appearance to ADHD are caused by intrauterine exposure to mobile phone radiations[1]. Over the past years, our laboratory has focused on studying the health effects of exposure of laboratory animals and humans to some common and/or occupational sources of electromagnetic fields such as mobile phones[2-9] and their base stations[10], mobile phone jammers[11], laptop computers[12], radars[3], dentistry cavitrons[13] and MRI[14, 15].  The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the maternal exposure to different sources of electromagnetic fields affect on the rate and severity of speech problems in their offspring.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate a possible association between maternal exposure to electromagnetic field and speech problems in the offspring. Altogether, findings of this study showed a significant association between exposure parameters of mobile phones such as the call time or history of mobile phone use and the occurrence of speech problems in the offspring. However, we could not show any association between exposure to cordless phones or CRTs and the occurrence of speech problems. This difference can be due to the different exposure patterns. Mobile phones are usually held near the body when being used. More specifically, the user’s brain is in close proximity to mobile phone during talks. It is worth mentioning that  some studies has provided evidence that low doses of ionizing radiation to the pregnant mother’s head is associated with disorders in the offspring such as low-birth-weight. Interestingly, it is hypothesized that the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis is to some extent involved in this causal pathway[16]. On the other hand, the peak power of mobile phones is up to 2 watts. This difference can explain the reason for lack of any association between exposure to cordless phones and speech problems in this study.

At a general view, findings obtained in our study are in line with the results reported by Taylor and his team at Yale University who showed that behavioral problems in mice which are similar to ADHD can be caused by maternal exposure to mobile phones during pregnancy[1, 17]. They exposed pregnant mice to radiofrequency radiation emitted by a muted mobile phone (talk mode but muted) that was placed above their cage during the examination period. Taylor and his colleagues reported that the offspring that were exposed to mobile phone radiation in their intrauterine life, showed more hyperactivity and reduced memory capacity compared to unexposed control group. Interestingly, Taylor hypothesized that the current rise in behavioral disorders in human children may be to some extent due to fetal exposure to mobile phone radiations[1].

Although a major limitation in our study is the relatively small sample size, this study indicates that the maternal exposure to common sources of electromagnetic fields such as mobile phones can affect the occurrence of speech problems in the offspring.

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Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., Director
Center for Family and Community Health
School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley

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