Is it true that pelvic X-rays taken to new born babies may produce cancer of the thyroids in their teen years?
I heard a conversation in which a mother was telling her experience. When her baby was born her pediatrician noticed an abnormality of the babies pelvic and ordered some X-rays. Later she was told that 90% of the children who were exposed to these X-rays got thyroids cancer in their teen years. Her daughter is 20 now and has that cancer. Is this true.
User Comments
- No. Any exposure to radiation has the potential to cause cancer, but in a controlled situation, like going in for X-rays, the exposure is so low that the risk is very minimal. Now maybe if her daughter got multiple X-rays everyday, then there is a possibility. The fact is, if you walked out into the sun today, you got more exposure to radiation than her daughter did getting a pelvic X-ray....
- I work in the medical field. I have a degree in Radiologic Sciences.