A recent study from Kaiser Permanente and published in the journal Nature has found that high exposure to non-ionizing radiation, even from something like an electric blanket, significantly raised the risk of miscarriage. If you are pregnant and using an electric blanket, it’s time to stop.
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“Electric blankets and many other environmental sources such as power lines, wireless devices and networks generate extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields, called non-ionizing radiation.” 1
For the study, 913 pregnant women were asked to wear a small magnetic-field monitoring device while they went about their day. “After controlling for other factors, researchers examined the rate of miscarriages after classifying participants into either a ‘low’ or ‘high’ non-ionizing radiation exposure level, with the ‘low’ group comprising of women who faced less than 2.5 mG of exposure.”2
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What they found was that women in the higher exposure group had a more than double risk of miscarriage (24 percent) than the women in the low group (10 percent). In fact, the miscarriage rate in the higher exposure group was higher than the rate of the general population (10 to 15 percent). (The World Health Organization was quick to point out that evidence did not confirm exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields as a risk for miscarriage.)
“A 2012 survey from Korea’s Ministry of Environment showed electric blankets could emit high levels of ELF. The ministry found that raising the heating intensity of electric blankets spikes emissions three-fold.
The survey on seven types of electric blankets sold in the market showed electromagnetic waves peaked at 71.1 milliGauss when the heating intensity was set to high compared to 23.3 mG at low.”
While electric blankets are certainly a quick way to get warm, if you are pregnant, and perhaps just in general, it might be better to keep warm by dressing in layers and using blankets. For your health and the health of your unborn baby.
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