title: Video display terminals and radon.
abstract: Recent reports indicate that video display terminals (VDTs) can collect radon progeny from the air. This occurs especially when they are turned off and may have negative electric fields which attract positively charged radioactive dust. We have studied this phenomenon in detail and evaluated various techniques for removing the gettered radioactivity while the video display terminal is both off and on. We have evaluated what happens when the video display terminal is switched, thereby reversing the electric field near the screen. We have also studied possible inhalation effects by a video display terminal operator during field reversal and find that although some radioactivity may be released during the cycle, room air currents redistribute it into the room with no detectable levels being inhaled by users.
authors.affiliation: IBM Research, Yorktown, NY 10598.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Zabel
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Curtis
mesh_terms: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor; D016288:Computer Terminals; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D006801:Humans; D017687:Radon Daughters
chemical_list: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D017687:Radon Daughters