A decade ago I read all kinds of stories about the dreadful things my PC might be responsible for: brain tumors, breast cancer, miscarriages. Now I hear nothing. Were the stories nuts, or are we?
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The stories were maybe a little exaggerated, although this is one area where you can’t make any definite pronouncements for fear some new scientific study will make you look like a chump two weeks later. The last flurry of computer (actually video-monitor) scare stories came in 1990, many inspired by an article titled “The Magnetic-Field Menace” by muckraker Paul Brodeur in the computer magazine MacWorld. Brodeur made two points: (1) exposure to the extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields generated by electric power lines had been linked to cancer, miscarriages, and other problems by several studies, and (2) ELF magnetic fields of similar strength (greater than 2-3 milligauss) were emitted by a surprisingly large number of commonly available computer monitors. A 1988 study of 1,600 California women found that clerical workers using VDTs more than 20 hours a week had a 2.4 times greater risk of miscarriage than other women. Conclusion: computers kill, or at least put you or your unborn child at significant risk.
But these are all just precautions. Is there any real danger? The question is still controversial, but the worst fears don’t seem to have been borne out. Only a few months after Brodeur’s article appeared, a Danish study of 6,200 women found no increase in miscarriages or birth defects due to VDT use. Several subsequent studies have reported similar results, and I’d venture to say the scientific consensus today is that VDT use in itself does not present any special danger to pregnant women.
