SIGHTINGS



Computer Monitor Radiation
Blamed For 1/3 Employee Sickness
www.lineone.net/newswire
7-14-99
 
 
 
Computers are making office workers sick by flooding their bodies with harmful radiation, researchers said today.
 
They were said to be responsible for a host of symptoms, ranging from fatigue to backache and depression.
 
More than a third of the ailments normally blamed on "sick building syndrome" were caused by low frequency radiation from computer monitors, it was alleged.
 
With a range of nearly 20 feet and the ability to penetrate eight feet of concrete, even a computer in a neighbouring office presented a potential hazard.
 
Symptoms included headaches, dry itchy eyes, tiredness and fatigue, aching backs, necks and limbs, rashes, coughs and sneezes, depression, irritability and loss of concentration and memory.
 
A study showed that in any four working weeks, 50% of staff in a typical office equipped with computers experienced between seven and 12 such symptoms.
 
Environmental experts Professor Derek Clement-Croome from Reading University and consultant John Jukes made the discovery while testing a new device designed to counter the effects of radiation from visual display units (VDUs).
 
One hundred people working in separate wings at the offices of Southampton and South West Hampshire Health Authority in Southampton were involved in the study.
 
The devices, which sit on top of the computer screen, were given to 50 staff working in one wing for a month, while the rest received a dummy.
 
After four weeks the devices were switched round, but no one knew which were real and which fake until the results were recorded at the end of the study.
 
When the real devices were operating, the number of symptoms fell by between 27% and 44%, with an average reduction of 36%. As soon as the were taken away, the symptom level shot up again.
 
Mr Jukes said: "The results were surprising. We didn't expect to get anything like a 36% reduction in symptoms.
 
"The conclusion is that low frequency magnetic fields account for over a third of so-called sick building syndrome."
 
The researchers were surprised to find that the radiation appeared to produce purely physical symptoms, such as back and neck ache, as well as those commonly associated with stress and environmental factors.
 
The health authority was deliberately chosen because of the "informed scepticism" of its staff, many of whom had medical backgrounds, and the fact that the office did not have air conditioning.
 
Air conditioning systems have in the past been blamed for "sick building" problems.
 
Although the symptoms were not severe enough to cause absence from work, they affected personal well-being and productivity.
 
Mr Jukes said: "So common is the pattern that most people tend to regard it as just part of life.
 
"They may complain about the air conditioning, the lighting, or their desk and chair, but since no one knows quite what to do the problem remains."
 
He stressed that the radiation had a range of 18 feet and could not be blocked out. It was able to pass through a concrete wall eight foot thick.
 
"A VDU below you or on the floor above, or in an office next door, could have an adverse effect," said Mr Jukes.
 
Low frequency radiation induces small circulating currents in the body which are said to mimic and confuse bio-electrical functions, affecting cell division and making the immune system less efficient.
 
The £67 Tecno AO device developed in France emits a signal that boosts the body's own beneficial electromagnetic fields.David Little, head of corporate services at Southampton and South West Health Authority, said: "We welcome the findings of the study team and are very pleased that staff seem to feel healthier when a live device is fitted to their VDU. As our staff have been so cooperative the researchers have agreed to let us keep the devices, and we hope that they continue to improve the wellbeing of people working here." David Little, head of corporate services at Southampton and South West Health Authority, said: "We welcome the findings of the study team and are very pleased that staff seem to feel healthier when a live device is fitted to their VDU. As our staff have been so cooperative the researchers have agreed to let us keep the devices, and we hope that they continue to improve the wellbeing of people working here."
 
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