§ Mr. Hancockasked the Paymaster General what studies have been made to assess the possible effects of visual display units on their operators.
§ Mr. Peter Bottomley[pursuant to his reply, 22 November 1985]: Many studies have been undertaken over the last ten years. They have mainly looked at possible effects on vision, musculo skeletal problems, skin and alleged reproductive problems. "Health effects of 396W VDUs: a bibliography by Rosemary Thomas" has been published by the Health and Safety Executive. I have placed a copy in the Library.
More recent published studies include "Work and pregnancy in Montreal—preliminary findings on work with visual display terminals", "Birth defects and video display terminals" and "Video display work and pregnancy—research in the Nordic countries". I will arrange for copies to be placed in the Library.