Back to Safe Technology

Back to Safe Technology

Research

Baby Monitors

Canada AM NEWS

Watch an EMF expert  test Baby Monitors and learn what you can do  to be safe and still hear your baby at night. 

​

Every parents needs to know that Baby Monitors:

• Emit microwave radiation constantly while powered on (both the base and the parent handset).
  

• Have fine print warnings that the device should be 20 cm (8 inches)  from the body. 

• Are not safe because a baby's brain is developing and is the most vulnerable to damage from microwaves. 

The “Fine Print” Manufacturer Warnings from the Manual:

Caution

1. To Comply with FCC RF exposure compliance requirements, a separation distance of at least 20 cm must be maintained between the antennae of this device and all persons.

2. This transmitter must not be co-located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter.

Baby Monitor Q and A

Q: If I keep the monitor at 8 inches will my child be safe?

A: No.  First FCC regulations never considered children.  This means even our current exposure levels could result in heating tissue in children.  A serious concern is heating brain tissue because that results in neurological damage.  As an example, recent research from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center shows that this radiation can create hot spots in live brains. This means tiny pockets of too-hot areas in the brain.  Our 21 year old FCC limits did not have this research to consider.  Currently, our device testing uses a pretend head and there is virtually zero research on live brains as revealed in the Sloan Kettering studies.  Children are more vulnerable as their brains are developing.

http://planetjh.com/2013/03/19/guest-opinion-new-study-shows-cell-phones-cook-your-brain/

Q: Why does it say “This transmitter must not be co-located”?

A: This means  that the monitor should not be used when another wireless device is in use.  This would mean you could exceed the RF limits because now your baby would be getting radiation from the monitor as well as, let’s say, the WiFi router in the home.  If you have a gaming console in the room or on the other side of the wall, then you have a third transmitter in operation.  All of these devices have radiation emissions being absorbed cumulatively by your child.

Q: Why is this important?

A: Current FCC guidelines are inadequate in many ways.  This fine print warning speaks to a serious problem with our standards. They only consider you are exposed from one radiation source and were developed 30 years ago when no one could imagine modern homes would have so many wireless devices under one roof.  Our babies are absorbing radiation from the baby monitor plus all the other wireless antennae in the house and community.

Q: How can it affect my baby?

A:  A baby’s brain is rapidly developing and even small exposures can have large brain impacts later.  This type of radiation, at levels thousands of degree lower than FCC regulations, has been shown to damage the immune system and reproductive system.  It also can affect your baby’s sleep cycle. ​

Watch this RT video about children and Microwave radiation. 

Li, C., Chen, Z., Yang, L., Lv, B., Liu, J., Varsier, N., Hadjem, A., Wiart, J., Xie, Y., Ma, L. and Wu, T. (2014), Generation of infant anatomical models for evaluating electromagnetic field exposures. Bioelectromagnetics. doi: 10.1002/bem.21868. 

In this work, we developed one 12-month-old male whole body model and one 17-month-old male head model from magnetic resonance images.  The whole body and head models contained 28 and 30 tissues, respectively, at spatial resolution of 1 mm × 1 mm × 1 mm.  Fewer identified tissues in the whole body model were a result of the low original image quality induced by the fast imaging sequence.  The anatomical and physical parameters of the models were validated against findings in published literature (e.g., a maximum deviation as 18% in tissue mass was observed compared with the data from International Commission on Radiological Protection).  Several typical exposure scenarios were realized for numerical simulation.

Dosimetric comparison with various adult and child anatomical models was conducted.  Significant differences in the physical and anatomical features between adult and child models demonstrated the importance of creating realistic infant models.  Current safety guidelines for infant exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields may not be conservative.

Listen to the Sounds of Radiation from a Baby Monitor. 

CBS News Story ~ Baby Monitors

​Wireless Baby Monitor radiation fills a nursery and surrounding rooms because it passes through the walls.  Babies will absorb radiation from the monitor all night long.  Parents are exposed when they place the receiver near their heads in their bedrooms. ​