skyler@violet.berkeley.edu (06/19/88)
New York _Times_, June 5, 1988 page 11 "Women who used video display terminals for more than 20 hours each week in the first three months of pregnancy suffered almost twice as many miscarriages as women doing other kinds of office work, according to a new study. The authors of the study, researchers at the Kaiser-Permanente Care program in Oakland, CA said the findings did not necessarily mean that the terminals themselves had caused the miscarriages and that such unmeasured factors as job-related stress and poor working conditions could also have been responsible. The study, showing more a statistical than a causal correlation, involved almost 1,600 pregnant women. The researchers found that heavy users of VDTs were more likely to have children with birth defects, but the increase was not statistically significant..." "...Since 1979, news organizations have reported several small clusters of miscarriages and birth defects among VDT operators in the US and Canada. However, there are disputes about their meaning. Some scientists regard the cases as clues to a more serious problem, while others consider them statistical quirks..." "...Some experts have suggested that low-level electromagnetc radiation from VDTs may be able to alter or disrupt cellular develop- ment. According to VDT News, experiments with mice and chicks have shown such effects. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has said that VDTs do not emit unsafe levels of electromagnetic radiation. Critics counter, however, that any additional radiation imposes additional risks. The institute, whose acronym is Niosh, has identified clusters of miscarriages and other complications of pregancy among VDT users but no cause and effect relationship has been established..." "...Members of the Kaiser team said they did not consider their findings definitive because the study was not designed to determine the cause of the miscarriages. Mrs. Goldhaber said: 'We cannot answer the question of how this is happening--whether the increased risk we found was related to the computer itself, or to the workplace, or to the stress in the workplace such as from seating discomfort, or even maybe some socio-economic differences between those who use computers a lot and those who do not use them.'" usenet ucbvax!jade!violet!skyler arpa skyler@violet.berkeley.edu
bst@rutgers.edu (Brenda S. Thompson 235-3335 M110) (06/20/88)
I think this is all a bunch of poppy-cock. I worked in front of a screen the entire time I was pregnant with my son, and he turned out to be beautiful, healty, and 9 lb. 1 oz. However, with both of my girsl, i worked mostly staff work during the pregnancies. Both were around 6 lb. 13 oz., and both were difficult deliveries. I have studied ergonomics for a number of years, and have reviewed this debate on a number of occassions. My personal opinion is that there is no real basis for this argument. Brenda [The researchers did emphasize that they saw a statistical, not a causal, correlation. TR] usenet ucbvax!jade!violet!skyler arpa skyler@violet.berkeley.edu
bill@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Bill Swan) (06/22/88)
In article <11169@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> bst@rutgers.edu writes: >I think this is all a bunch of poppy-cock. > >I worked in front of a screen the entire time I was pregnant with >my son, and he turned out to be beautiful, healty, and 9 lb. 1 oz. > >However, with both of my girsl, i worked mostly staff work during the >pregnancies. Both were around 6 lb. 13 oz., and both were difficult >deliveries. > >I have studied ergonomics for a number of years, and have reviewed >this debate on a number of occassions. My personal opinion is that >there is no real basis for this argument. > >Brenda > >[The researchers did emphasize that they saw a statistical, not a >causal, correlation. TR] Normal children were born at Love Canal, too, however... A recent article (somewhere) hypothesises that the blame is due the stress related to work situations where the VDT is featured. As far as I recall the article they haven't completed the statistical correlations to the causal. [That article was in the New York _Times_--parts of it are in the second csw posting. The researchers, according to the article, weren't intending to study VDTs, but something else. They were, therefore, not really prepared to analyse the data fully. Studies have more recently begun which are supposed to look at causal relationships. TR]