Flying whilst pregnant?

A recent article by a doctor in an American paper answering a question on the harmful effects of cosmic radiaion exposure during flying whilst pregnant.

"Cosmic radiation is a form of radiation that comes from outside the solar system, and from particles released during solar flares. The intensity of cosmic radiation depends on the year (due to solar cycles), altitude, latitude and length of exposure.

While fight crews are classified as “radiation workers” due to the fact that they are exposed to higher natural radiation doses compared to the general public, the health risks associated with these higher exposures remain inconclusive, and it is agreed that even the most frequent air travelers have little or no increased health risk from cosmic radiation exposure. BLOG NOTE: there are lots of scientific papers that disagree with this statement.

However, pregnant air travelers warrant special consideration, since recent studies show that the fetus is exposed to the same amounts of radiation as the mother, and radiation exposures greater than 2 millisievert (radiation dose is measured in millisievert) have been associated with congenital and cognitive problems.

You have nothing to fear in regard to the radiation exposure you and your baby will have during your trip, since it will equate to a flight time of 10.5 hours each way, or 0.1 millisievert exposure each way. However, pregnant woman should have a radiation exposure limit of no more than 1 millisievert during the whole pregnancy, which equates to approximately 200 flight hours during the pregnancy.

Radiation exposure increases during solar flares, so the Federal Aviation Administration notifies air carriers of impending solar flares. That way they can adjust aircraft altitude and limit the extra radiation exposure during such times. However there have been anecdotal reports of air carriers failing to adjust their flight altitudes during solar flares. Pregnant women and air travelers in general can access the solar-radiation alert system online at the National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center (www.sec.noaa.gov) before travelling and change flight days accordingly."