New & Timely: New Radiation Standards Set
February 1969 Radio-Electronics

February 1969 Radio-Electronics [Table of Contents] Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Radio-Electronics, published 1930-1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.

Governments are historically fond of creating laws, standards, regulations, codes, ordinances, directives, notices, prohibitions, restrictions, bylaws, ordinances, and all other manner of ways to control our lives - all for our own good, don't you know. Sometimes those impositions are useful, and other times - maybe most times - they are just forms of control to keep the figurative boot on the equally figurative throats of the proletariat. According to this 1969 issue of Radio-Electronics magazine, the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare has recently been ordered to create standards for maximum radio frequency radiation exposure levels for various commercial electronic products. The move was largely driven by concerns over radiation from color televisions x-ray emission from super high voltage cathode ray tube (CRT) biases, and from microwave ovens, both of which were relatively new household appliances.

New Radiation Standards Set

Washington. D.C. - Standards for hazardous radiation from commercial electronic products are now under federal study. New legislation directs the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare to set and control radiation standards for all kinds of electronic products. The new law grew out of federal investigations that revealed dangerous radiation leakage and potential hazards in a number of products. In addition to excessive X-ray radiation from some color TV sets, studies showed that 24 of 30 microwave ovens at a U.S. medical center leaked potentially hazardous radiation, that about two-thirds of some 112,000 X-ray machines did not meet current standards, and that dangerous lasers are readily available to the general public.

Who Are the Proletariat?

The proletariat is a term used in Marxist theory to describe the social class of wage-earners who do not own the means of production, and therefore must sell their labor to survive. According to Marxist theory, the proletariat is the driving force of history, as it is through their struggle against the bourgeoisie (the capitalist class that owns the means of production) that revolution and the establishment of a socialist or communist society becomes possible.

In simpler terms, the proletariat refers to the working-class individuals who must sell their labor to earn a living, and who are often exploited by the capitalist class in the pursuit of profit. This term is often associated with Marxist and socialist political thought, and has played a significant role in the history of labor movements and social struggles around the world.

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW)

The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) was a cabinet-level department of the United States government that existed from 1953 to 1979. It was responsible for overseeing federal programs related to public health, education, and social welfare.

HEW was created in 1953 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower through the reorganization of several existing federal agencies. The department's responsibilities included administering social security and Medicare programs, overseeing the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and managing federal education programs such as student loans and grants.

In 1979, HEW was divided into two separate departments: the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. This reorganization was intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs related to health, education, and social welfare. Today, the Department of Health and Human Services is the primary federal agency responsible for public health and social welfare programs, while the Department of Education oversees federal education programs.

Posted March 30, 2023