About big monitors and magnet fields; well, I have an Eizo F980 (21", or 22" as some would say for some reason...) at home, and a 19" Nokia monitor on the right side of if, more than 1.5 m (~5') away. Turning either monitor on will affect the other, but more interestingly, the Eizo (the latest top-of-the line model; not an oldie) goes more like "BzzzOOOIing!" when powered on, or the degauss function is activated. (That's actually where the sound comes from, AFAIK.) I don't think I've heard a monitor that loud before...
Anyway, considering that I've had some rather powerful speakers with gigantic unshielded magnets closer than half that distance from the Nokia without problems (the speakers will affect practically any CRT within .5 m; sometimes more), the magnetic field from the Eizo's degauss coil has to be pretty darn strong to have that effect on > 1.5 m!
Maybe it has something to do with large high resolution monitors needing extremely powerful (ie effective) degaussing?
Anyway, I can't swear by it, but I definitely get the feeling that it's actually more than the sound that is transferred to my head if I'm within about 1 m (3') when I turn it on. Can't be healthy in the long run... *heh*
Hit the switch and run for cover!