Answer to Question #6568 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"
Category: Pregnancy and Radiation — Power lines, magnets, computers, airport screening, cell phones, radar
The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:
I'm pregnant and I have to use computers for a few hours a day and I know electric appliances also emit radiation. How harmful is all of this to me and my baby?
My friend suggests that I buy a radiation protection suit. According to advertisements, the garments are made from a kind of fiber interwoven with antiradiation material. Do you think it works? Should I wear it?
The term radiation is a broad term that covers a large number of wave energies to which we may be exposed. The most concerning are the electromagnetic waves (EMF) of very short wavelength that we refer to as ionizing radiation, i.e., x rays, radioactive materials like radium, or radioactive iodine. Very high exposures to ionizing radiation can affect a developing embryo.
Many other forms of electomagnetic radiation do not have this potential, i.e., power lines, computers, microwave ovens, or radio waves (both FM and AM bands). These are nonionizing EMF of much longer wavelength. We even have ultrasound (sonography) which are physical waveforms that are audible sound or ultrasound. Only the ionizing radiation has the potential to harm your developing embryo if the exposure is high enough. The other forms of radiation to which we are usually exposed do not have this potential.
You do not need a special garment to use a computer. Save your money to spend on important things for you and the baby. The only problem that you have to deal with are the background risks that all pregnant women face. Remember that every woman with a normal personal and genetic family reproductive history has the background reproductive risks which are 3% for birth defects and 15% for miscarriage. We cannot change those risks at this time.
Robert Brent MD, PhD