Does anyone remember the hysteria about Video Display Tubes (VDT’s). For the younger set, those were the predecesors of computer screens and were (basically) hidef colour television screens.
There were all sorts of claims that VDT’s emitted radiation and it was detrimential to your health. There was a flurry of magazines specifically devoted to VDT radiation research. I worked (at the time, this was the 80′s) for Sherritt Gordon in Fort Sask. and the nursing staff onsite insisted that we track the number of hours we sat infront of a VDT every day.
The Company eventually asked the local radiation specialists (I don’t recall the actual arm of the Govt involved here) and they gave us the low down on the relative risk (since their equipment could not actually measure any radiation coming from the VDT’s). Bascially we received more radiation by sleeping next to your spouse and were at risk of losing you life by eating a jar of peanut butter or spending 1 hour in New York city.
Extraordinary claims like this surface now and again and can only be addressed by demanding proof or a procedure to arrive a proof. As well, what is the injury being made and what is the mechanism.
Its as credible as people who see ghosts when the old house they live in creaks at night.
]]>