Alan Anderson

Looking At Vdts

 

Imagine buying equipment for half the employees of your company and finding out that you have condemned them to suffer cataracts and birth defects.

Your item "Hazardous Effects of VDT Legislation" (News and Trends, March) stated in a bold print call-out, "Recent studies have linked VDTs with such disorders as cataracts and birth defects." I was relieved, although considerably irritated, to find that within the article, the only reference was that "Critics also charge that the terminals may have a role in causing cataracts, birth defects, and reproductive problems."

The area of VDT safety is difficult at best. Your insensitive, shallow, unsubstantiated sensationalism helps no one but your own self-serving interests.

EDITOR-NOTE:

While the health effects of VDTs are still a matter of scientific dispute, a number of studies do link VDTs with cataracts and birth defects. Those studies have raised the concerns that, in turn, have prompted the drive for legislation.