Prospective study of pregnancy outcomes after parental cell phone exposure: the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND

Research about prenatal exposure to electromagnetic fields from cell phones among expectant parents and reproductive outcome is limited. The aim of this article is to investigate the association between pregnancy outcome and parental cell phone exposure in a large prospective study.

METHODS

The study was based on the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study conducted during the decade 1999-2009. In that study, pregnant women were recruited before a routine ultrasound examination during gestational week 15; they answered a questionnaire at that time and again around gestational week 30. The expectant father was invited to answer a questionnaire during gestational week 15 (2001-2009). The forms contained questions regarding cell phone use. The response rate was 38.7% and the cohort comprised 100,730 singleton births. Pregnancy outcomes were obtained by linkage to the Medical Birth Registry of Norway.

RESULTS

The risk of preeclampsia was slightly lower among women with medium and high cell phone exposure compared with low exposure after adjusting for potential confounders. Fathers with testis exposure when using cell phones had a borderline increased risk of perinatal mortality among offspring and a slightly decreased risk of partner developing preeclampsia during pregnancy compared with no cell phone exposure of head or testis. None of the other pregnancy outcomes was associated with cell phone exposure.

CONCLUSIONS

We found no association between maternal prenatal or paternal preconceptional cell phone exposure and any of the studied pregnancy outcomes. The only risk estimate suggesting a potential increased risk was not consistent with other findings.