New research has surfaced that suggests that pregnant mothers who are exposed to high levels of radiation found in microwaves, smartphones, and Wi-Fi have a greater risk of having children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This may sound crazy, but it's could very well be true!
The magnetic fields nonionizing radiation (MF) are found in waves all in the environment and around people every day. Cellphone towers, electrical appliances, wireless devices and anything that uses Bluetooth all release magnetic fields. Previous studies have shown that exposure to MF nonionizing radiation can be linked to cancer and other serious medical conditions.
Dr. De-Kun Li is a senior researcher at scientist at Kaiser Foundation Research Institute in California. He advises pregnant women to limit their exposure to MF as much as possible. Li's research team found that children whose mothers were exposed to high levels of MF while they were pregnant were twice more likely at risk to have children with ADHD.
"Pregnant women who are concerned about MF impact on the health of their fetuses and offspring should reduce MF exposure during pregnancy as much as they can," Dr. De-Kun Li explained.
What are considered to be dangerous MF levels? According to Dr. Li, dangerous levels start at 1.3 milligrams. For the most part, people don't understand what's considered too much exposure, but Li suggests that expecting mothers limit and keep their distance from devices that have them. Li warns that since everyone is exposed to MF, pregnant women should use devices less than usual because there's significant evidence to supports that MF-generating devices contribute to other serious health issues in people besides pregnant women.
The study included two groups with over 1500 mothers from October 1996 to October 1998 and the other from May 2006 to February 2012. The children were recorded from May 1997 to December 2017. The report was published first online on Tuesday, March 24th, 2020 in JAMA Network Open.
However, there are some medical professionals that challenge the study. Dr. Saima Aftab, medical director of the Fetal Care Center at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, believes the study creates more questions than answers. Dr. Aftab agrees that MF can affect the brain and development of the fetus, but she also states that one's environment and diet can do that as well. She's concerned that this study will cause more pregnant women to unnecessarily panic.
"Just giving women information that this could cause ADHD, and raising the alarm without any good solutions or strong reasons to say that we know for a fact that this is cause and effect isn't wise," she said.
Source: US News