Pregnant women who spend too much time around domestic electrical gadgets may be putting their baby at risk of asthma, researchers reported yesterday.
A woman exposed to high levels of exposure to magnetic fields have a three times increased risk of giving birth to a child who develops asthma compared with those who have little exposure, according to the study in California, USA.
The research involved items such as microwave ovens, hair dryers, vacuum cleaners and fluorescent light bulbs – but did not involve mobile phones.
For the research, reported in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, more than 800 women wore metres which measures their exposure to low frequency magnetic fields.
The researchers said the greater the exposure, the greater the risk of asthma.
Researcher Dr De-Kun Li, of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, California, said: "While the replication of the finding is needed, the message here is exposure to electromagnetic fields is not good, and we need to pay attention to its adverse effect on health.
"The best way to reduce your magnetic field exposure is distance. Magnetic field strength drops dramatically with increasing distance from the source.
"So pregnant women should try to limit their exposure to known MF sources and keep distance from them when they are in use."
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. August 1, 2011. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.135
Leave a Reply