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Women with high exposure to magnetic fields during pregnancy mayhave a higher risk of asthma in their children, according to a Kaiser Permanente studyappearing online in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. In this prospective study, researchers compared the daily magneticfield exposure of 801 pregnant women in Kaiser Permanente NorthernCalifornia and used electronic medical records to follow theirchildren for 13 years to see which children developed asthma. Thestudy found that women with high MF exposure in pregnancy had amore than threefold risk of asthma in their offspring compared withmothers whose exposure level was low. This is the first study to demonstrate a link between maternalmagnetic field exposure in pregnancy and the risk of asthma inoffspring. Previous research has found that MF - generatedtypically by power lines and appliances such as microwave ovens,hair dryers and vacuum cleaners -- could lead to miscarriage, poorsemen quality, immune disorders, and certain type of cancers. Recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a WHOagency, classified radio frequency EMF as a possible carcinogen. "While the replication of the finding is needed, the message hereis exposure to electromagnetic fields is not good, and we need topay attention to its adverse effect on health," said study leadauthor De-Kun Li, MD, PhD, a reproductive and perinatalepidemiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research inOakland, Calif. Dr. Li published the original study in 2002 thatfound high MF exposure can lead to miscarriage. The prevalence of asthma has been steadily rising since the 1980s,making it the most common chronic condition among children.Thirteen percent of children under 18 have asthma, which is causedby malfunction of the respiratory organs and the immune system. "EMF exposure is ubiquitous. Because of the widespread exposure,any adverse health effect of EMF could impact many people and causea serious public health problem", said Dr. Li. Studying the EMF health effect has been difficult because everyoneis exposed to EMF at some level, so there is no truly "unexposedcontrol group" for easy comparison, researchers said. Healthresearchers must rely on comparing those with high EMF exposurelevels to those with low EMF exposure levels to detect potentialadverse EMF effects, Li said. Women in this study wore a small meter during their pregnancy thatmeasured their daily exposure to low frequency MFs fromelectricity-related sources such as microwave ovens, hair dryers,vacuum cleaners, fans, coffee grinders and fluorescent light bulbs,power lines, and transformer stations. This study did not measurehigh frequency (radio frequency) MFs from wireless networks,wireless towers and wireless devices such as cell phones and smartmeters. The researchers adjusted for study participants who livednear freeways but it did not change the results of the EMF-asthmaassociation. "In this study, we observed a dose-response relationship betweenmother's MF level in pregnancy and the asthma risk in heroffspring. In other words, a higher maternal MF exposure duringpregnancy led to a higher asthma risk in offspring," Dr. Li said. In this new study, the researchers also found that two known riskfactors for asthma, maternal history of asthma and being thefirst-born child, exacerbated the MF effect on the asthma risk."This finding further supports the MF-asthma association," says Dr.Li. "The best way to reduce your magnetic field exposure is distance.Magnetic field strength drops dramatically with increasing distancefrom the source," said Li. "So pregnant women should try to limittheir exposure to known MF sources and keep distance from them whenthey are in use." The study was funded in part by the California Public HealthFoundation. Co-authors on the study include Hong Chen, MPH, andRoxana Odouli, MSPH, both of the Kaiser Permanente Division ofResearch. Additional References Citations. I am an expert from roll-formingmachinery.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Welding Manipulator , China Metal Forming Machinery, Metal Forming Machinery,and more.
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