Clothing that protects against electromagnetic waves?
French children’s clothing giant Petit Bateau has made some serious waves with their new hat and blanket that purport to protect newborns from &"the connected world", woven from a cotton and silver-thread blend fabric.
Given the various reports surfacing from French health safety agency Anses on young children being exposed to waves, it’s an irresistible marketing idea. These experts state that children are being exposed more and more, and at an increasingly early age, even as early as “in utero development” apparently. Add to this the logical assumption that regulatory thresholds for exposure calculated for adults are likely to be exceeded in children due to their small size, and there is understandable concern.
But do these products even work? According to the brand’s own testing, the fabric blocks 99.5% of waves between 800 megahertz (MHz) and 5.8 gigahertz (GHz), i.e., all Wi-Fi and mobile phone waves. Yet according to Anses 1 , clothing accessories only ensure localised and weak protection from exposure, and could even cause increased exposure in areas where the item’s cover stops.
1) https://www.anses.fr/fr/system/files/AP2011SA0150Ra.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1unavyX3BBInTvsw1epL7DKRPcIW5S_wpMV64xyviR2euPBagtqP0aN60