Technical Assistance Report No. TA-79-061-844: Potential Health Hazards of Video Display Terminals, Oakland Tribune: San Francisco, California

Details

• Journal Article:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Personal Author:
  Murray, William E. Jr. ; Moss, C. Eugene ; Parr, Wordie H. ; Cox, Clinton ; Smith, Michael J. ; Cohen, Barbara F. G. ; Stammerjohn, Lambert W. ; Happ, Alan
• Description:
  An industrial hygiene survey was conducted at the Oakland Tribune (SIC-2711), Oakland, California, in November 1979 and January 1980. The evaluation was requested by representatives of newspaper union locals out of concern for potential health hazards associated with the use of video display terminals (VDT). Measurements were made of X-irradiation, radiofrequency, ultraviolet, and visible radiation at the terminals. Air samples were analyzed for carbon-monoxide (630080), formaldehyde (50000), hydrocarbons, and acetic-acid (64197). Self administered medical questionnaires were given to 103 VDT operators and 93 comparisons. An ergonomic evaluation of the VDT work stations was conducted. All radiation levels and chemical concentrations were below relevant federal standards. Only 49 VDT operators and 21 comparisons returned the questionnaires. VDT operators reported a higher percentage of gastrointestinal and emotional health complaints than comparisons. The ergonomic evaluation showed that illumination of the VDT work stations was generally acceptable, although glare was occasionally a problem. Other problems included excessive keyboard and VDT screen height. The authors conclude that the significance of the differences in health complaints between the VDT operators and comparisons cannot be assessed due to the small number of questionnaire responses. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Environmental Monitoring Occupational Health Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Workplace
• Keywords:
  NIOSH-Author; NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report; Hazards-Unconfirmed; Air-quality-measurement; Medical-surveys; Workplace-studies; Industrial-design; Physical-stress; Work-environment; TA-79-061-844; Region-9
• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, TA 79-061-844, 1980 Jan; :1-62
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Technical Assistance Field Studies
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Technical Report
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  66 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00134881
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB84-241801
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, TA 79-061-844, 1980 Jan; :1-62
• CAS Registry Number:
  Acetic acid (CAS RN 64-19-7) ; Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0) ; Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1980
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2711 - Newspapers - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:46169d6235af40e09693b3b6ba1b99bec3583d701b9fc70c0af8660763f66687e3a98cc2e9741bf14146d738362ec9ebc14bc6884425fa4fcde1abc80a4be632
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172839/cdc_172839_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.70 MB ]