[name_f]My[/name_f] husband hurt his back and went to the ER where they did an X-ray on his back and because of where they were X-raying they didn’t use the protective covering for him. I’ve looked online and it seems to say that it could have killed some sperm but otherwise shouldn’t be a huge problem but we are TTC. He has to follow up with our doctor anyways so I’m hoping he’ll ask about it but he didn’t think to ask the doctor in the ER. Anyone know if this could be an issue with getting pregnant or having a healthy baby?
It’s fine. An X-ray of the lumbar spine has a radiation dose of 70 mrem. You can receive up to 620 mrem in a year without any additional risk of DNA damage or cancer. A fetus itself can receive 500 mrem in pregnancy without any tiny elevation in risk.
The average exposure to radiation from the earth itself and cosmic rays and whatnot is 310 mrem a year, or over 4 spine x-rays (other X-rays carry much lower amounts of radiation- chest X-rays only have 2.5 mrem, and X-rays of your feet or hands are only 0.5). If you live in [name_u]Denver[/name_u] or Macchu Pichu or Tibet, or take a billion jet flights up high, you’re exposed to a lot more.
Thank you!