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From: STENGEL@pucc.Princeton.EDU (Robert F. Stengel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,sci.energy,sci.electronics,sci.environment,ieee.net.tech,ieee.general
Subject: VDT Electric Fields
Message-ID: <12438@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
Date: 11 Feb 91 16:39:39 GMT
Reply-To: STENGEL@pucc.Princeton.EDU
Organization: Princeton University, NJ
Lines: 22
Disclaimer: Author bears full responsibility for contents of this article


   Inadvertently, I conducted an experiment relating to the on-going
controversy regarding possible health effects of low-level electric fields
and video data terminals (VDT).  My new Macintosh LC computer is
parked unceremoniously in the middle of my desk until I can find a better
place for it.  The dual-15w-tube fluorescent desk lamp that has served me
well for 30+ years sits overhead, usually well out of the way.  The lamp
has separate "on" and "off" buttons; the "on" button must be held down to
produce a higher electric field during the starting cycle.
   Recently, while sorting some 35mm slides, I pulled the lamp head closer
to the desk top, just a few inches above the monitor screen.  When I turned
the computer on, the lamp tube nearest to the monitor began to fluoresce,
flickering until the "off" button produced total discharge.  Apparently, the
electric pulse that occurred when the monitor was turned on was enough to
initiate fluorescence in the lamp.  The phenomenon has been repeated
several times since.
   In the popular reporting on the subject, much has been made of average
field strengths and possible repercussions on health, but little or no
attention has been paid to peak transient fields, which could be expected to
have increased effect.  It may well be that the VDT presents a greater
hazard as it is being turned on than while it is operating normally.
Increased understanding of this potentially significant factor is warranted.