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  • Letter to the Editor
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Magnetic fields and miscarriage: A commentary on Mezei et al., JESEE 2006

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 18, pages 537–538 (2008)Cite this article

In a recent publication of your journal, Mezei et al. (2006) stated in their abstract and discussion that “These findings are consistent with the hypothesis suggesting that the association between maximum magnetic fields (MFs) and miscarriage are possibly the result of behavioral differences between women with healthy pregnancies and women who experience miscarriages”. Their conclusion was not supported by their evidence because it did not compare behaviors or MF exposures of women whose pregnancies ended normally or ended with miscarriages. It simply showed once again what common sense would suggest and what a study by Lee et al. (2002) had already clearly documented that there will be a very poor correlation between the size of a maximum field from 1 month to the next and brief high fields are more likely to occur in some environments than in others. Their results showed only one of the several conditions that are required to support the above statement. They still have long way to go.

In 2002, Li et al. (2002) and Lee et al. (2002) simultaneously published two studies, one a prospective cohort study and the other a population-based nested case–control study, which demonstrated a twofold increased risk of miscarriage associated with the maximum (peak) level of MF exposure during a 24-h personal measurement period.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 956 Evelyn Avenue, Albany, 94706, California, USA

    Raymond Richard Neutra

  2. Division of Research, Kaiser Foundation Research Institute, Kaiser Permanente, 2000 Broadway, Oakland, 94912, California, USA

    Dekun Li

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  1. Raymond Richard Neutra
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  2. Dekun Li
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Correspondence to Dekun Li.

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Neutra, R., Li, D. Magnetic fields and miscarriage: A commentary on Mezei et al., JESEE 2006. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 18, 537–538 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2008.35

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