Table of contents:
- Types of metal detectors
- Can pregnant women be examined with metal detectors?
- What about other baby equipment?
Pregnancy is a gift that should be taken care of. That is why pregnant women are usually very careful and wary of things that risk interfering with pregnancy or endangering the baby. One of the things that may pose a risk of interference to the unborn baby is a metal detector that you will often find at security checkpoints. Usually, these security checkpoints must be passed at a shopping center, office building, or airport gate.
Maybe you've heard that this metal detector can harm the fetus or baby in the womb. However, is this just a myth or a fact? To find out the full answer, please read on the explanation below.
Types of metal detectors
There are various types of metal detectors that are usually available at security checkpoints. The first is the metal detector gate (body scan) which is shaped like an iron door. This tool serves to scan your body. The goal is to make sure you don't hide prohibited items like weapons or smuggle stolen goods from the shop. This detector gate will emit electric waves. These waves will pick up a magnetic field when you store metal or iron tools. Meanwhile, detection gates in shop doors will pick up radio waves emitted by labels on goods from the shop.
Apart from being a gate, metal detectors are also available in stick form. This metal detection stick will usually be swung towards your bag or body to check whether you are carrying prohibited items. It works the same as a metal detector gate, but this stick is more accurate.
Can pregnant women be examined with metal detectors?
Unlike many people's worries, pregnant women can be examined through metal detectors. Either with the detector gate or the wand, your pregnancy or the fetus in your womb will not be affected by the waves emitted by the metal detector.
What many people fear about metal detectors is that the fetus or baby in the womb of pregnant women is at risk of being exposed to the radiation emitted by metal detector gates or sticks. In fact, body scanners and metal detecting wands emit only very low levels of radiation from radio waves and magnetic fields. This type of harmless radiation is also known as non-ionizing radiation. The radiation produced is not even able to penetrate the skin, especially to the fetus or baby in the womb of a pregnant woman. They can only capture the outline or silhouette of your body.
Radiation, safety and pregnancy experts around the world such as the National Institute for Standards and Technology in the United States and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in the UK agree that pregnant women need not be afraid of being examined with metal detectors. The unit for calculating the radiation dose is the microsievert. According to these experts, a newborn baby will be exposed to the impact of radiation in one exposure of 500,000 microsieverts. Meanwhile, if you pass the examination with a metal detector, the exposure is less than one microsievert.
Also, keep in mind that exposure to very small amounts of radiation is a very common occurrence in everyday life of pregnant women, even though you may not realize it. This exposure can come from computers, laptops, smartphone, and refrigerator. The researchers even found that the magnetic field radiation generated by the refrigerator was 10 times greater than that of metal detector gates. So, you don't really need to worry about metal detectors at security checkpoints. However, since there are alternatives that are definitely safer if you have to go through security screening points, experts recommend that pregnant women should be checked manually by a female security officer.
What about other baby equipment?
Fetuses or babies who are still in the womb of pregnant women are safe from exposure to magnetic field radiation or radio waves generated by metal detectors. However, what about other baby equipment such as baby bottles, baby clothes, or breast milk (ASI)? For goods that pass through a scanner, radiation will not penetrate or leave the remaining substances, particles, or hazardous materials in the goods. Even if the item had been scanned many times with a metal detector, there would be no impact on it. Therefore, you can now breathe a sigh of relief because the news about the dangers of this metal detector is just a myth.
