Hi,
I’ve always wondered whether it might be harmful to a foetus if the mother is flying? Put another way, does an altitude of 30,000 feet affect a foetus negatively in any way?
I look forward to your feedback.
davidmich
Can’t remember the proper search terms, but I remember reading something that mentioned that there were some studies examining the hypothesis that cosmic rays for flight crew who traveled frequently over the north pole slightly increased the risks for bad stuff to a baby.
IIRC, the body of evidence, though limited, persuaded some airlines to reassign pregnant flight crew away from polar routes (cuz polar routes expose you to more cosmic rays).
can’t find any authoritative cites after a few seconds of google-fu-ing.
so take it with a grain of salt.
“Is it harmful?” is an awfully vague question, and therefore very difficult to study. You could ask more specific questions, driven by specific hypotheses: “Radiation levels are higher at higher altitudes. Do children of women who flew while pregnant have higher rates of chromosomal abnormalities than those who did not?”
Pressurized or unpressurized with oxygen?
Latitude 30° or 80 °?