Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcvax!cernvax!ethz!ethz-inf!wyle
From: wyle@inf.ethz.ch (Mitchell Wyle)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: Radiation from computer screen, eye strain
Keywords: radiation
Message-ID: <287@ethz-inf.UUCP>
Date: 3 Jul 89 07:41:34 GMT
References: <29846@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <783@lakesys.UUCP>
Reply-To: wyle@ethz.UUCP (Mitchell Wyle)
Organization: Departement fuer Informatik, ETH Zuerich
Lines: 27

In article <783@lakesys.UUCP> davef@lakesys.UUCP (Dave Fenske) writes:
>I don't believe there is any radiation (as in X-rays) to worry about.  There
>are many other factors that have not been proven to either have or not have
>effect on human beings.

There is some speculation that Radon might be attracted to a VDU screen
(or TV) because of the magnetic field.  If you work in a well-isolated
stone building with closed windows, you might want to measure the radon
in the room and how much congregates around the screen.  I've seen no
EPA data about radon and VDUs.  VDUs do not emit any harmful radiation.
I've seen lots of studies, controls, regulations, etc. in "Health Physics
Journal."

Some people complain of eye strain and astigmatism after n years of VDU
exposure (8 hours a day).  A simple "exercise" prescribed by a physical
therapist / karate master is:

Three times a day, spend 2-3 minutes focusing first on something very
close (your hand) and then something very far (out the window).  Wait
til your eyes focus, then dart to the other object.  He claimed that
flexing the lenses in your eyes would postpone lens hardening in later
life (and the need for bi-focals).

-- 
-Mitchell F. Wyle
Institut fuer Informationssysteme         wyle@inf.ethz.ch 
ETH Zentrum / 8092 Zurich, Switzerland    +41 1 256 5237