Exposure to computer video terminals and monitors - possible link to Brain C?

single3rd
single3rd Member Posts: 18
edited March 2014 in Brain Cancer #1
I know that the current rage is the link between cell phones and brain cancer, but I have a more personal linkage I am curious to investigate.

Because my original tumor was never linked to any known cause by any of my specialists at the time, and in view of many recurrences, I have my own pet theory which may or may not be a total waste of time.

During the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, I spent almost all of my working life using video CRT terminals linked to IBM-compatible computers. Throughout the 1990s, I extensively used personal computers with color monitors. Am I "just clutching at straws", or does anyone have a similar career background and the same diagnosis?

Thanks.

single3rd.

Comments

  • NCAA XC
    NCAA XC Member Posts: 25
    #2
    Nothing wrong with "clutching at straws"
    It may well be, that's why when we showed up at MD Anderson and saw our doctor, there was also quite a few other people who walked in with lab coats on with this and that family study wanting to know the backgrounds and stories of my wifes entire family..
    They even called my wifes relatives and interviewed them at home!
    They are ALL "clutching at straws" and lets continue clutching.
    For my part, I believe my wifes GBM was caused by her devotedly taking an anti-seizure medication (the generic of Tegretol) for nearly two decades when her one single "episode" had been 20 years ago.
    She wouldn't take her self off the stuff in all the folowing years and neither would any of her docs.
    Could very well be just what you say and I hope some researcher someplace is working off the information that you give him/her!!!
  • stayingcalm
    stayingcalm Member Posts: 650 Member
    #3
    Maybe not so far afield...
    "CRT / VDT’s sometimes contain barium, a toxin that causes brain swelling, muscle weakness, as well as heart, liver and spleen damage.
    PCBs, cables and plastic casings contain brominated flame-­retardants, endocrine disrupters that impair normal development of all species, particularly the young
    Cables and plastic computer casings contain Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) and release highly toxic dioxins and furans when burned. (Hrudey, 2005)
    Switches, PCBs, and flat panel VDT’s contain mercury, a bioaccumulative toxin that causes brain and kidney damage and developmental defects in developing fetuses.
    Older capacitors and transformers contain poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), probable carcinogens, which cause liver damage, damage to reproductive and nervous systems.

    Health Effects on Manufacturing Workers
    The ongoing dangers of computer manufacture to workers and communities are well documented. Silicon Valley, the birthplace of the industry where several high-­tech-­related epidemiological studies have identified clusters of miscarriages and birth defents, now has more
    toxic Superfund sites than anywhere else in the U.S. (Smith, 2000). Computer component production—including semiconductors, printed circuit boards, disk drives and VDT’s—uses
    “particularly hazardous chemicals, and workers involved in chip manufacturing are now beginning to come forward and report cancer clusters."
  • single3rd
    single3rd Member Posts: 18
    #4
    stayingcalm said:

    Maybe not so far afield...
    "CRT / VDT’s sometimes contain barium, a toxin that causes brain swelling, muscle weakness, as well as heart, liver and spleen damage.
    PCBs, cables and plastic casings contain brominated flame-­retardants, endocrine disrupters that impair normal development of all species, particularly the young
    Cables and plastic computer casings contain Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) and release highly toxic dioxins and furans when burned. (Hrudey, 2005)
    Switches, PCBs, and flat panel VDT’s contain mercury, a bioaccumulative toxin that causes brain and kidney damage and developmental defects in developing fetuses.
    Older capacitors and transformers contain poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), probable carcinogens, which cause liver damage, damage to reproductive and nervous systems.

    Health Effects on Manufacturing Workers
    The ongoing dangers of computer manufacture to workers and communities are well documented. Silicon Valley, the birthplace of the industry where several high-­tech-­related epidemiological studies have identified clusters of miscarriages and birth defents, now has more
    toxic Superfund sites than anywhere else in the U.S. (Smith, 2000). Computer component production—including semiconductors, printed circuit boards, disk drives and VDT’s—uses
    “particularly hazardous chemicals, and workers involved in chip manufacturing are now beginning to come forward and report cancer clusters."

    Computer hardware and cancer
    Thanks very much - guess I'll do some more Googling!

    This quest is more to satisfy my own curiosity more than anything else (it certainly won't cure it) - I just refuse to accept that in my mid-50s, with no prior history, I developed brain cancer for no apparent reason.

    Thinking back, in the early 1980s, when I was working in Canada, my workdays did involve a considerable amount of interaction with circuit boards and disk drives.

    Again, thanks.

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