Group Launches Campaign Warning Expecting Mothers About Wireless Radiation
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Could your cell phone cause harm to your unborn baby?
As CBS 2's Dr. Max Gomez reported, that is the concern being raised by one environmental group which launched a nationwide awareness campaign on Wednesday.
The founder of the Environmental Health Trust, Dr. Devra Davis, wants expecting mothers to know about the danger they may not know emanates from their cell phone.
"Right now, we are treating our children like experiments in a subject with no controls," Dr. Davis said.
Some animal studies have linked cell phone wireless radiation to neurological and behavioral problems in baby rats and mice. It's not enough evidence to prove cause and effect in humans, and that kind of study can't be done, Gomez reported.
"It would be unethical if we were to say 'let's take one group of pregnant women and expose them to cell phone radiation and the other group not,'" Dr. Davis said.
Davis said the danger goes beyond your phone, to signals given out by tablets, WiFi routers, cordless phones, even your wireless smart utility meter.
Dr. Davis, along with a group of health advocates, launched a nationwide campaign called "BabySafe Project."
"Our booklets and pamphlets -- hundreds have gone out to and thousands more are on their way to birthing centers, yoga centers, holistic moms chapters and other associations and groups that serve pregnant women," said Patty Wood, with Grassroots Environmental Education.
The campaign urges expecting mothers to take precautions such as:
- Never hold a wireless device against your body.
- Turn off your WiFi router when it's not in use.
- Use your cell phone on speaker or with a headset.
"Moving that phone away from your body even a little bit can have a fairly profound impact on radiation exposure," said Dr. Hugh Taylor, with Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Proving wireless signals are harmful or safe is especially hard since all these devices emit radiation at different frequencies and energies -- each of which have very different biological effects, Gomez reported. Additionally, wireless radiation is so ubiquitous these days, it's virtually impossible to avoid exposure.
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