How will radiation affect unborn babies in Japan?

“The Chernobyl accident was unexpected, and a lot of people, including pregnant women, were exposed because of absence of preventive measures during the first two weeks after the accident (shelters, iodine supplements, supply of non-contaminated food, cessation of breast feeding, etc),” said Dr. Dardynskaia in an email. “Japan is taking preventive measures, and a lot of things will be dependent on how good these preventive measures are, and how much radioactivity will be in the air after the explosion.”

But even a relatively small amount of exposure to radiation could be dangerous. Although some researchers say babies who receive a small dose of radiation (equal to 500 chest x-rays or less) don’t have an increased risk for birth defects, a 2007 long-term study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that fetal exposure to ionizing radiation after Chernobyl impaired cognitive ability at levels previously considered safe.