Mother’s Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields before and during Pregnancy is Associated with Risk of Speech Problems in Offspring

Abstract

Background: Rapid advances in technology, especially in the field of telecommunication, have led to extraordinary levels of mothers’ exposures to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) prior to or during pregnancy.Objective: The main goal of this study was to answer this question whether exposure of women to common sources of RF-EMFs either prior to or during pregnancy is related to speech problems in the offspring.Materials and Methods: In this study, mothers of 110 three-to-seven-year-old children with speech problems and 75 healthy children (control group) were interviewed. These mothers were asked whether they had exposure to different sources of EMFs such as mobile phones, mobile base stations, Wi-Fi, cordless phones, laptops and power lines. Chi square test was used to analyze the differences observed between the control and exposed groups.Results: Statistically significant associations were found between the use of cordless phone and offspring speech problems for both before pregnancy and during pregnancy maternal exposures (P=0.005 and P=0.014, respectively). However, due to high rate of mobile phone use in both groups, this study failed to show any link between mobile phone use and speech problems in offspring. Furthermore, significant associations were observed between living in the vicinity of power lines and speech problems again for both before pregnancy and during pregnancy maternal exposures (P=0.003 and P=0.002, respectively). However, exposure to other sources of non-ionizing radiation was not linked to speech problems. Moreover, exposure to ionizing radiation (e.g. radiography before and during pregnancy) was not associated with the occurrence of speech problems.Conclusion: Although this study has some limitations, it leads us to this conclusion that higher-than-ever levels of maternal exposure to electromagnetic fields could be linked to offspring speech problems.

RETRACTED: Impacts of smartphone 1 radiation on pregnancy: A systematic review

“… -Fetal temperatures > by 0.025, 0.030, and 0.017 (K) in GA a 13, 18, and 26 wks b respectively. Use one case model V/B Zarei et al, 2019 Iran A cross-sectional design N= 75 mothers of healthy children (control group) and 110 mothers of children aged 3-7 years diagnosed with speech problems GA a = Not determined Associations were found between the use of cordless phones and offspring speech problems for both before pregnancy and during pregnancy maternal exposure (P=0.005 and P=0.014, respectively). Small sample size III/C Yuskel et al, (2016) Turkey An experimental design N=32 rats and their 40-newborn offspring GA a = NA Progesterone, prolactin, and estrogen levels in the 900, 1800, and 2450 MHz/1hr groups were lower compared to the control group (p<0.001, p < 0.05, and p<0.05 respectively).…”

Comparison of effects of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and mobile phone exposure on human placenta and cord blood

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“…To further disintegrate the cells, the suspension was sonicated with an ultrasonic cell disrupter (MP FastPrep-24 Tissue and Cell Homogenizer, USA). The homogenates were then centrifuged for 15 Umbilical blood samples and analysis…”

The Determination of Health Services Vocational School Students’ Knowledge Levels About the Effects of Radiation on Health

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“…Studies have shown that radiation exposure causes DNA damage and is a risk factor for many cancers as leukemia, lymphoma, lung, bone, liver and kidney cancers (Behjati et al, 2016;Jacob et al, 2004;Kiang & Olabisi, 2019). Also, exposed radiation dose has been shown to increase all causes of death (Kiang & Olabisi, 2019;Seawright et al, 2019;Zarei et al, 2019).…”