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From: yoshio@maui.cs.ucla.edu (Yoshio Turner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Health hazard from screens
Message-ID: <1991Jan22.161813.3512@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: 22 Jan 91 16:18:13 GMT
References: <91016.100008JAHAYES@MIAMIU.BITNET> <1991Jan21.185952.22248@cs.ucla.edu> <1991Jan21.224758.28652@convex.com>
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In article <1991Jan21.224758.28652@convex.com> ewright@convex.com (Edward V. Wright) writes:
>In article <1991Jan21.185952.22248@cs.ucla.edu> yoshio@makaha.cs.ucla.edu (Yoshio Turner) writes:
>>In article <91016.100008JAHAYES@MIAMIU.BITNET> JAHAYES@MIAMIU.BITNET (Josh Hayes) writes:
>>>The question of health hazards arising from VLF and ELF emissions
>>>from color monitors is not trivial; epidemiological evidence gives
>>>strong support to the contention that there is a relationship between
>>>such emissions and, for example, elevated rates of miscarriage.
>>
>>And cancer.  See the recent EPA draft report, "Evaluation of the
>>Potential Carcinogenicity of Electromagnetic Fields..."
>>the EPA draft report concludes that "60-hertz magnetic fields are a
>>possible, though not proven, cause of cancer in humans and that more
>>research is necessary".
>
>Excuse me, but saying that EM fields are a "possible, though not proved
>cause of cancer" and "more research is necessary" is not exactly the same
>as saying there is "strong support" for a relationship between EM and
>cancer.

Be careful.  You are apparently trying to equate correlation with
causation.  The original poster is correct; there is strong support to
the contention of a relationship between EM and various health
problems (i.e. statistical *correlation* has been shown through
epidemiological studies).  Such a correlation, as noted by the EPA
report, is sufficiently convincing to call for research that may (or
may not, hopefully) establish a *causal* link.

So is your Macintosh monitor killing you?  The jury is still out.  But
there is some incomplete evidence that there are some adverse health
effects.  Personally, I try to avoid too much exposure, but that's
mainly to protect my eyesight and reduce stress more than anything
else.

Yoshio