Dr. Weeks’ Comment: We are consulting with more and more parents of injured infants whose exposure to electrical pollution is tragic to the point of being … well, let’s call it what it is… criminal: the manufacturers KNOW the toxicity but obfuscate the issue for the sake of increasing sales.
“…“As a public health expert, I am deeply concerned about the experiment we are conducting on our pregnant women and young children today,” says Dr. Devra Lee Davis…”
“…Unfortunately, too many mothers-to-be are not aware that, along with chemicals, certain foods, and some beverages, they also need to avoid radiation from phones, wireless routers, and laptop computers in order to safeguard their babies…”
“… No one has assessed safety, for instance, when a cell phone is held directly against the ear or carried in the breast pocket. Standards, then, are not only dated but also inaccurate…”
Radiation From Cell Phones And Wireless Devices Harms Your Unborn Baby’s Brain Development
Medical Daily, Jun 3, 2014
“I would never drink or smoke while pregnant!” Most expectant mothers understand that carrying a child means taking extra safety measures to protect the growing life. Unfortunately, too many mothers-to-be are not aware that, along with chemicals, certain foods, and some beverages, they also need to avoid radiation from phones, wireless routers, and laptop computers in order to safeguard their babies.
“The science is compelling and growing and women have an absolute right to know about it in order to make an informed decision,” said Patricia Wood, executive director of Grassroots Environmental Education, in her opening remarks during the BabySafe News Conference on Tuesday. BabySafe is a national campaign to raise awareness about an issue too few pregnant women understand: that their exposure to wireless radiation may interfere with their child’s brain development, resulting in behavioral problems, including symptoms resembling ADHD. Though the BabySafe program is new ”” with an online quiz to help mothers understand exposure levels ”” it echoes an old theme familiar to pregnant women worldwide: better safe than sorry.
Hyperactive Symptoms“Don’t keep your phone on you at all times,” advised Dr. Hugh Taylor of Yale University School of Medicine. “Move it away from you. Keep exposure to a minimum.” Taylor, who is chair of the department of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences, is author of a study on pregnancy, cell phone radiation, and behavioral changes in mice, published in Scientific Reports. Because it is so difficult to trace a specific environmental influence on a developing fetus ”” mothers are exposed to many potential influences so it is difficult to determine the exact effects of just one ”” he and his colleagues designed a special animal study in order to isolate cell phone use and study its effects on babies before they were born.
The experiment worked like this: Taylor and his team of researchers exposed one group of 42 pregnant mice to a muted and silenced phone that had been turned on and was actively receiving a signal, and, to compare, they also exposed a second group of 42 pregnant mice to a cell phone that was turned off and not receiving a signal. Otherwise, all environmental conditions, including food and accommodation, were identical. The pregnant mice were exposed throughout their entire pregnancies and then their offspring were tested when adults.
What did Taylor and his colleagues observe? Compared to the mice who had not been exposed to cell phone radiation, the exposed mice had decreased memory, more likely to be hyper active, and, in Taylor’s words, “didn’t have a care in the world. They were very different from the mice who had not been exposed.” He likened their behavior to that of children with attention deficit hyper-activity disorder (ADHD or ADD), which is a common and increasing diagnosis for young children. In fact, the exposed mice had different electrical activity in their brains.
“Parents have a right to know,” she said before advising pregnant women to turn off their phones and WiFi at night or whenever it’s not needed.
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Risks to Baby’s Brain Development From Wireless Radiation
National Awareness Campaign Urges Pregnant Women To Take Simple Steps to Reduce Baby’s Exposure
Grassroots Environmental Education and Environmental Health Trust, Jun 3, 2014
An international group of doctors and scientific experts is joining with non-profit organizations today to urge pregnant women to limit their exposure to wireless radiation from cell phones and other devices by taking simple steps to protect themselves and their unborn children. The national public awareness campaign, called the BabySafe Project, is being coordinated by Grassroots Environmental Education and Environmental Health Trust, and is based on independent scientific research linking exposure to wireless radiation from cell phones during pregnancy to neurological and behavioral problems in offspring that resemble Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children.
The BabySafe Project is promoting ten simple steps women can take to limit their exposure to wireless radiation:
1. Avoid carrying your cell phone on your body (e.g. in a pocket or bra).
2. Avoid holding any wireless device against your body when in use.
3. Use your cell phone on speaker setting or with an “air tube” headset.
4. Avoid using your wireless device in cars, trains or elevators.
5. Avoid cordless phones, especially where you sleep.
6. Whenever possible, connect to the internet with wired cables.
7. When using Wi-Fi, connect only to download, then disconnect and disable Wi-Fi.
8. Avoid prolonged or direct exposure to nearby Wi-Fi routers.
9. Unplug your home Wi-Fi router when not in use (e.g. at bedtime).
10. Sleep as far away from wireless utility meters (i.e. “smart” meters) as possible.
“We believe all pregnant women should be made aware of this research on wireless radiation risks,” says Patricia Wood, a Visiting Scholar at Adelphi University and Executive Director of Grassroots Environmental Education. “More research is needed to determine exactly how the developing brain is affected, but in the meantime, we certainly have enough evidence of potential harm to recommend taking simple, common-sense precautions.”
“There’s essentially no downside to being cautious and protecting your baby,” says Dr. Hugh Taylor, Chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University School of Medicine, who recently authored a study showing significant behavioral changes in the offspring of mice exposed to cell phone radiation during pregnancy. “We have demonstrated clear cause and effect relationships in mice, and we already have studies showing that women who use cell phones have children with more behavioral problems. I think together that’s very powerful evidence.”
“As a public health expert, I am deeply concerned about the experiment we are conducting on our pregnant women and young children today,” says Dr. Devra Lee Davis, author of numerous books on wireless radiation and human health, and founder of the Environmental Health Trust. “We cannot afford to treat this generation as experiments in a subject with no controls. We’ve got to be smarter. ”
“Pregnant women deserve to know that wireless radiation can have an impact on the developing brain,” says Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klein, a pediatric neurologist practicing in New York. “We’re seeing alarming increases in the number of children diagnosed with neurological disorders over the past decade, and anything we can do that might help reduce that rate should be taken very seriously.”
Wireless radiation is part of a growing list of environmental exposures thought to interfere with normal fetal brain development, with implications that include impaired communication skills, learning deficits and behavioral problems.
“When you have an environmental exposure that disrupts brain cell connections, a number of things can happen,” says Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician at the NYU Langone School of Medicine and professor of Environmental Medicine at the Wagner School of Public Service. “Nerve cells may not communicate the way they should, or maybe the wrong connection is sent to the wrong cell. And as a result there can be permanent changes in the electrical wiring of the brain that can have consequences all across the entire lifespan.”
A Joint Statement on Pregnancy and Wireless Radiation advocating precaution and research has been endorsed by scientists and medical professionals from around the world. The statement calls for women to be informed about the risks of exposure to wireless radiation, and to take precautionary steps while more research is conducted.
An extensive social media campaign including web videos is being launched using the hashtag #KnowYourExposure. More information about the BabySafe Project, including links to scientific studies and video interviews with medical professionals is available at www.BabySafeProject.org.
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Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Family and Community Health
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
Center: http://cfch.berkeley.edu