Health Effects of Computers

:) Hey all,
Does anyone have any information/thoughts/web links/etc. on the health effects of using computers? I understand computers give off a certain amount of radiation. Are we putting our health at risks by spending hours staring into our CRTs?

Probably, I've spent about 6 hours on the computer today with only a couple of breaks (due to the way my college timetable works). Staring at the yellow and grey colour scheme of AO probably hasn't done my eyes much good. :D

humm, you are putting your health at risk on lots of things with your computer. Repetitative Stress Syndrom from your mouse/joystick. Carpel Tunnel Syndrom from your keyboard. Eye Strain Syndrom from your monitor. Etc etc. There is quite a bit out there. Look for things like ergonomics when you search google. I know that a lot of HR (human resources) sites are putting up a lot of information dealing with computer related work injury, because OSHA is starting to hold companies responsible for things like Carpel Tunnel.

The best thing to do is buy a big monitor (preferably 17"), a flat screen would be even better.

My neck is beginning to get sore now, perhaps I should have a break for a while...

The wrists, back and neck are the most likely things to be damaged from prolonged use of computers and that is from bad posture while sitting and bad placement of the mouse, keyboard and monitor.

The radiation from monitors is negligible, in fact you would have to be sitting in front of a monitor for 248 years, 24 hours a day, to be subjected to the same radiation that I am from the Chernobyl disaster in a day (in Ireland that is) every day of my life (unless your monitor was built before 1987 in which case it would about 150 years) so unless you have found the secret of eternal youth I wouldn't worry about it (if you have found if please PM me and tell me it ;) ).

Garathjax - The emissions from monitors are harmful. However the user is shielded as long as he/she is in front of the monitor. The worst place to be is near the side or rear of a large crt. This issue occurs in star cubes and is of some concern.

Hmm... I have my pet bearded dragon's tank by the side of my monitor... hope they don't start growing three eyes :)

I guess I should move them?

I didn't say they weren't harmful I said they were negligable. Breathing the air in any city is more dangerous than sitting anywhere around a monitor for a long time. All I'm saying is don't worry about it cause if you do worry about everything that could affect your health your life won't be worth living and you might as well go kill yourself and get it over with.

P.s. I did some research on this subject at uni for project and through various experiments myself and my partner discovered that making one phone call (approx. 3 minutes ) on a Nokia 3310 exposes you to the same amount radiation as sitting two feet away from an unshielded CRT for 50 hours or standing in front of an opperating microwave for 7 minutes (again 2 feet away).

The problem today is that people tend to buy the cheapest hardware possible, cheap monitor, cheap mouse, cheap keyboard, and most importantly, cheap chairs.
I have paid about $ 500 for just my keyboard and mouse and I have been using them for 2 years at a rate that a normal person would start complaining about rsi. Both are expensive but hey it paid off, ergonomics is important, buy a flat screen instead of those cheap ones and don´t be too picky about input devices.

http://www.safetyoffice.uwaterloo.ca.../ergo/vdt.html

Here's a perspective not from what I think (or anyone else for that matter). Insurance companies require those in IT mgmt to ensure those with at risk conditions and pregnant women be given shields if they use any crt. It's a well established fact for more than 15 years now that the emissions are harmful. To what extent is the question. Since corporations and insurance firms deal with liability and not so much opinions they have such things in place.

Hate to be negative here guys...but lets think for just a minute.
Is it more harmful to sit in front of your computer, or more harmful to take a break and microwave yourself a snack?
In todays world pretty much everything and anything is going to kill you eventually (if that bus or random psycho you run into on the street don't get you first!!)

Faqt... Your definetly right than there are much worse things out there that can harm you. I've seen cancer warnings on gum! Alot of the things we eat everyday are probably more harmful. Like on March 1, 2002 Tasters choice instant coffee was found to contain glass particles. Add that to the caffeine and your getting alot more than you paid for. Hope you don't drink much coffee. I know for one that I'm usually in front of a computer for at least 8 to 12 hours a day. 8 hours for work, and the rest to play or work on my flash skills. Sometimes I feel like it just sucks the life from me. Other days I feel fine. So my conclusion, It probably has nothing to do with the computer. I probably just need more sleep.

check this out..

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html

recent alerts from the FDA. You'd be surprised by some.

A computer is like a bug zapper. I'm uncontrollably attacted to it, even though I see people get zapped all the time. :zap:

Sure computers can be a health risk but think of all the more dangerous things you do every day like driving, eating at burger king, smoking/drinking.

All I know is that since I started my IT job and sitting in front of a monitor for 75% of my day, my eyesight has down down the shitter.

I also get a sore back, but thats mainly cause of my shithouse posture.

Curse the workforce for putting us through such health hazards.

Anyway, off for a smoke. :D