Video computer terminals and occupational dermatitis

Abstract

There are no reports on skin sensitivity to video computer terminals. Weiss & Petersen found that the level of radiation from such terminals was far below the permissible exposure level established by any agency or government. They concluded that there is no experimental or epidemiologic evidence which would indicate that levels of radiation attributable to video computer terminals have any deleterious effects on the human biological system. There are various possibilities open in regard to the connection between electrostatic fields and the medical reactions observed. There are, for example, the socalled capillary electrical phenomena which occur between two layers of different conductivity when very weak currents are present. These phenomena appear because the surface tension of liquids is reduced during charging, regardless of whether the charge is positive or negative, and osmotic functions are therefore affected. Nor can the possibility of electrolytic changes in tissue be ruled out. Effects brought about via the vegetative nervous system also have to be taken into consideration. There is obviously a need for further research as far as the influence of static electricity from video computer terminals on the human body is concerned.