The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:
Q
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 radiation protection suits. According to their advertisements, the garments are made from a kind of fiber interwoven with antiradiation material. Do you think it works? Should I wear it?
A
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 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 percent for birth defects and 15 percent for miscarriage. We cannot change those risks at this time.
"Regulations of the US Department of Health and Human Services require manufacturers to test computer monitor emissions for radiation and to label them attesting to the fact that they have been found to meet the standards of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations. You should be able to find this label on the rear of the computer monitor or the computer processor. Health studies of pregnant women who work with VDTs have not found harmful effects on the women or on their children. Heavy lead aprons or other shields are not considered necessary for units that meet the x-ray emission standards of 21 CFR. Such shields may actually be counterproductive from an ergonomic point of view."
"''If you look at the study, and not the headlines about the study, it seems clear that the problem is the factory-like environment so many VDT operators work in, not the machine itself,'' said Jeanne Stellman, executive director of the Women's Occupational Health Resource Center, a Brooklyn organization. ''The most significant part of the study, one that didn't get reported, was the table showing that administrative and clerical workers who spent more than 20 hours a week on the VDT had a much higher miscarriage rate than managerial and professional women who spent the same amount of time at a computer.'' "