Higher exposure
to magnetic fields (MFs) non-ionizing radiations nearly triples the risk of
miscarriage in pregnant women compared to those who get lower exposure reports
the results of prospective cohort study published online in Nature’s Scientific Reports.
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| The electromagnetic spectrum |
This study
reaffirms the findings from earlier studies that non-ionizing radiations are
not totally harmless, and they have biological effects on human health.
The lead
author Dr. De-Kun Li, a senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente
Division of Research in Oakland, California call it a serious public health challenge
as humans are ubiquitously exposed to both low frequency MFs generated by home appliances,
transformers, powerlines etc and higher frequency MFs from cell phones,
wireless networks, smart meter networks, cell towers and wireless devices.
The authors identified
900 women with a positive pregnancy test through the electronic medical record
(EMR) laboratory database from bay area counties in Northern California. The
MFs exposure was measured in milligauss (mG) through EMDEX Lite meter (Enertech
Consultants Inc.) that the women carried throughout 24 hours during pregnancy.
The exposure
was further classified as typical or atypical based on the women following her
daily schedule or doing something apart from her routine because it was seen
that there was a significant difference between exposure on a typical day vs
atypical day.
As the women
were followed progressively into pregnancy till 20 weeks since the positive urine
pregnancy test, the study was able to detect early miscarriages that earlier
studies might have missed.
Women’s
personal risk factors and obstetric history was ascertained along with presence
or absence of other confounders to rule out bias. They were followed into pregnancy
till miscarriages, end of pregnancy due to other reasons like ectopic or till
they reach 20 weeks.
Cox
Proportional Hazards regression model was used to examine the association between
MFs exposures and miscarriage rates.
After
adjusting for the known confounders like maternal age, race, education, smoking
during pregnancy, and prior miscarriage, overall, pregnant women who had higher
MF exposure during pregnancy (higher 3 quartiles) had a 48% greater risk of
miscarriage than women who had lower MF exposure (in the lowest quartile):
adjusted HR = 1.48, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03–2.14
The association
was stronger and significant when the data was examined for typical days vs
atypical days, on which no association was observed.
Similarly, no
difference was observed between women with (≥2) miscarriages vs women with no
prior bad obstetric history. Although, the association was stronger in women
who were exposed to the higher quartiles as opposed to women exposed to lowest
quartile, no significant dose response relationship was observed.
The
association was also consistent across different sources of MFs exposure.
This is the
only study that used an objective measuring device (EMDEX Lite meter) to
measure the radiations and were able to measure the effects prospectively in
months instead of years as in cancer and other chronic diseases.
Prior
studies have found an association between long term exposure to non-ionizing
radiations and increased risk of brain cancer and low sperm counts.
The lead
author Dr. Li stresses the importance of further studies in this subject area.
Meanwhile she advices children and young adults, especially pregnant women to
stay away from cell phones and other equipments that emit non-ionizing
radiations.
Couples who
are trying to conceive should also minimize their exposure by maintaining a
safe distance from cell phone and other house hold appliances.
Media courtesy: Daily Mirror, Vimeo.com, wireless hygiene
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