OMB Changes Criticized as U.S. Seeks VDT-Miscarriage Links

Government scientists are moving ahead with a major study to find out whether video display terminals (VDTs) cause miscarriages in female workers, but critics charge that changes ordered in the study by the Office of Management and Budget will seriously hamper its ability to answer that question.

The study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is scheduled to start next March. It will gather information from about 4,000 telephone operators--2,000 who use VDTs and 2,000 who do not--concerning recent pregnancies.

The study, first announced in 1983, had been eagerly awaited by unions, industry executives and occupational health experts, who hoped it would resolve questions about whether VDTs, used by about 7 million American working women, are hazardous during pregnancy.

Previous Research Cited

In previous research, the numbers of women studied have been too small to give definitive results.

Since 1980, about a dozen reports of high rates of miscarriages or other pregnancy complications have been filed by offices equipped with VDTs, but scientists could not determine whether VDTs caused the pregnancy losses.

OMB delayed the start of the planned safety and health agency study for more than two years, under its mandate to reduce government paper work. OMB at first rejected the agency proposal, then last June approved a revised version but ordered the agency to delete certain questions on stress and infertility.

OMB Deleted Questions

Deletion of the questions by OMB was prompted by the comments of two outside consultants hired by Bell South--the company whose workers were to be studied--to critique the agency proposal.

Other experts charge that without the questions the study will not be able to distinguish VDT use from overall job stress as a possible factor in causing miscarriages.

Researchers in the field say the distinction is important because, if VDTs are found to cause miscarriages, the mechanism could be either radiation emitted from the machine or job stress associated with working at the terminal.