Home | Non-food | Lifestyle | Does prenatal exposure to magnetic fields cause asthma in kids?

Does prenatal exposure to magnetic fields cause asthma in kids?

08/03/2011 19:07:00 admin
Font size: Decrease font Enlarge font

by Aimee Keenan-Greene

Can mothers who are exposed to high levels of magnetic fields (MF) during pregnancy be putting their baby at risk for developing asthma?

The new study in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine says there is new epidemiological evidence of high maternal MF levels in pregnancy increasing the risk of asthma in offspring.

Approximately, 20 million Americans have asthma.  It is a chronic disease of the airways  that carry oxygen in and out of the lungs. There is no cure.

The prospective cohort study done at Kaiser Permanente Northern California had participants carry a meter to measure their MF levels during pregnancy.  More than six hundred children, some followed as long as 13 years were diagnosed with asthma. 

Researchers write, "After adjustment for potential confounders, a statistically significant linear dose-response relationship was observed between increasing maternal median daily MF exposure level in pregnancy and an increased risk of asthma in offspring: every 1-mG increase of maternal MF level during pregnancy was associated with a 15% increased rate of asthma in offspring". 

Children whose mothers had a high MF had more than a 3.5-fold increased rate of asthma.

Children whose mothers had a medium MF level had a 74 percent increased rate of asthma. 
  • email Email to a friend
  • print Print version
  • Plain text Plain text
Newsletter
Email:

Rate this article
0