A common cause of ECG artifact is:

The presence of ECG artifact can be influenced by multiple factors, all of which can interfere with the accurate reading of an electrocardiogram. One significant cause is improper skin preparation, which can lead to poor electrode adhesion and increased impedance at the skin-electrode interface. This can result in baseline wandering or spikes on the ECG trace, leading to misleading interpretations.

Parkinsonism, which involves tremors and muscle rigidity, can also contribute to artifact during an ECG. The patient's movement can create noise on the ECG, obscuring the true signals from the heart.

Additionally, environmental factors such as fluorescent lighting can introduce electromagnetic interference that disrupts the ECG signals. This kind of artifact can manifest as irregularities in the waveform due to the interference generated by the lighting.

Considering that all these factors—improper skin preparation, physical conditions like Parkinsonism, and external environmental influences such as fluorescent lighting—can lead to artifacts in an ECG reading, the correct answer is indeed a comprehensive acknowledgment of these causes. The acknowledgment of all these contributors enhances the understanding of how various aspects of patient preparation and environment can impact the quality of ECG data.