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John Ott, light pioneer
Whole Earth Review, Fall, 1988 by Ramon Sender Barayon
In his July 1985 newsletter, he announced a startling new discovery:
"Possibly the most important development is the finding that when a drop of human blood is placed on an ultraviolet transmitting microscope slide and then placed directly in front of a video display terminal for five minutes, it will cause long-chain clumping of the red blood cells known as 'Rouleau.' The clumping effect has been recognized by doctors for quite some time but has been attributed to poor diet (too much fat) and lack of exercise. Medication to thin the blood has been used.
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"However, our finding is that if the slide with the blood sample is then placed directly in front of the lowlevel ultraviolet source of an OttLite TM radiation shielded fixture for another five minutes, the Rouleau clumping will be broken up. This clumping of the red blood cells restricts the flow of blood through the capillaries and is thought by many doctors to be a contributing cause to many degenerative types of conditions, including Alzheimer's Disease.
"This finding with pictures is included in an article in the July 1985 issue of the International journal For Biosocial Research, P.0. Box 1174, Tacoma, Washington 98401." - I recently telephoned Dr Ott at his
home to ask if he had anything to add to my comments.
"Well, the most alarming information is that we have repeated the clumping experiments several times and confirmed our original findings. There's no question of a doubt, and it's much worse with a video display terminal than with an average television set of a comparable size. The equipment in the terminals seems to give off greater magnetic fields, and we think this problem is due to the magnetic fields magnetizing the iron in the hemoglobin, causing them to have a polarity that makes them line up just like a bunch of little magnets. "However, we find that getting the person outdoors or seating them directly in front of our full-spectrum lighting with ultraviolet reverses the condition. The ultraviolet seems to be an important factor in breaking up this clumping. Being able to show so quickly the effect of video display terminals on the red blood cells and the reversing of this condition is going to be a very helpful demonstration. The initial response from video display terminal manufacturers has been very discouraging. Of course they see dollars going out the window. But in the long run, it's going to be a different story, I was just reading an article on class action suits, particularly the asbestos problem. I think there is a growing realization that the electronics industry has a far greater liability from all this radiation pollution, especially with the PCBs used in transformers and fluorescent light ballasts. The New York Times had an article about a major problem that developed at the Smithsonian Institution from the leakage of this material out of the ballasts in fluorescent light fixtures. This seems to me to be a major liability. It's just unfortunate that everybody waits until legal action is taken before doing anything about it.
