Maxwell's Silver Hammer 303
several others, but still there has been no attempt at a large-scale statis-
tical study to check the oft repeated claim that these are just coinci-
dences.
Two studies are widely quoted as disproving harmful effects from the
machines. In 1977, when two New York Times copy editors developed
radiation-induced cataracts after less than a year at their new screens, the
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) tested a
few machines and, finding that X-ray emissions were within the half-
millirem-per-hour standard for work exposure, concluded there was no
link to the health problems. Unfortunately, the agency didn't ade-
quately measure nonionizing radiation, gave contradictory data as to the
sensitivity of its own instruments, and failed to test malfunctioning moni-
tors, which are known to emit larger amounts of X rays. Nor is there
any assurance that the X-ray exposure standard is adequate, since it was
formulated for a much smaller group of workers (mainly nuclear techni-
cians and uranium miners), whose health is continuously monitored in a
way that that of VDT operators is not. Furthermore, the NIOSH in-
vestigators noted an enormous microwave reading of 1,000 microwatts
in one of the Times offices, without even bothering to find out where it
was coming from!
Press releases claimed a mid-1983 National Academy of Sciences re-
view would allay the fears once and for all, proving VDTs to be risk
free. However, a reading of the text showed a different picture. While
the authors played down reports linking birth defects and eye problems
to VDT radiation, they admittedly failed to find any research adequate
to answer the health questions one way or the other.
According to the sketchy data available, all VDTs (which of course
include video games and televisions as well as computer monitors) emit
varying amounts of radiation over a broad spectrum. The transformers
release VLF and ELF waves, while microwaves, X rays, and ultraviolet
emanate from the screen. Poorly adjusted or malfunctioning terminals
can emit enormous amounts; two machines tested in the offices of Long
Island's Newsday, for example, were producing 15,000 microwatts of
radio energy. There's no information whatever on the synergisms that
may operate amid this varied radiation over long periods of time, but I
suspect that the birth defects are primarily due to the ELF component.
Meanwhile, the only American "research" on the problem continues
to be the daily lives of our 10 million or more console operators. Despite
the reassurances, at least a third to a half of the workers continue to
suffer hea daches, nausea, neck and back pain, and vision impairment. In
fact, a 1983 survey of eleven hundren UPI
employees conducted by