Q: I am a 26 years old female and 23 weeks pregnant. I want to know why do doctors say that X-rays are harmful during pregnancy? Till how many weeks of pregnancy one should not get an X-ray done? Are metal detectors at airports also like X-rays? Which electrical equipments are harmful like X-rays? Is a photocopy machine harmful to a pregnant woman? Yesterday, we had gone to a Kodak shop to develop some photographs. Since we wanted to decide on the photo size, I went and stood near the machine, which was doing the processing of the photos. I hope it was not harmful to me?

A:All radiation exposure should be minimized during pregnancy although casual exposure such as medical x-rays and airport metal detectors are not sufficiently powerful to harm. Other factors such as smoke exposure or alcohol abuse and malnutrition are the major risks for the unborn baby.