henry (01/19/83)
The following is an excerpt from a letter appearing in the December issue of BYTE. The author is the director of the FDA's Bureau of Radiological Health. "Measurements performed under normal VDT operating conditions by the FDA and NIOSH have *never* shown X-ray emissions signi- ficantly above the natural background radiation to which we are all exposed. In order for our laboratories to produce any higher levels of X-radiation, they had to resort to extreme conditions, including maximum misadjustments of both user and service controls, excessive line voltages, and intentionally induced component failure -- conditions which in some cases led to illegible video displays and permanent damage to the units. "Based on our measurements of ionizing and nonionizing radiation, we do not believe that VDTs should pose a radiation risk to those who operate them."