For more information contact:
Ted Smith, SVTC, 408-287-6707 x 305
Johannes Ignacio 408-998-4050
Leslie Byster, SVTC, 408-420-7050

Semiconductor Industry Health Problems Continue to Mount:
Industry response called 'State of the Art' Stalling

In response to the announcement on March 20 by the Semiconductor Industry Association's (SIA) that it would "conduct a preliminary review to determine if it is possible to conduct" a study of health risks in the semiconductor industry, a broad coalition of health, environment and worker advocates blasted the further delays and called for several immediate concrete actions to address the growing health problems in the industry (see letter to SIA):

• Release the full report of the recommendations from the Science Advisory Committee
• Promise not to shred or destroy any health or exposure documents
• Undertake comprehensive health monitoring and surveillance starting now
• Conduct an independent study of the health of semiconductor workers

"We expect much more from the state-of-art high-tech electronics industry," said Ted Smith, Executive Director of Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. "What we have here is a state-of-the art stall job. What has the Science Advisory Committee been doing the past two years? Now is the time to undertake a comprehensive epidemiological study of the semiconductor industry, and to commence immediate health monitoring to protect the workforce from harmful exposures to the many toxic chemicals used in chip production.

“We’ve known for more than three decades that the manufacturing of computer chips requires many toxic chemicals and that workers have been getting sick from exposure to those chemicals” said Dr. Joseph LaDou, a University of California occupational physician who has been treating electronics workers since the 1970’s. “The semiconductor industry needs to support a thorough and unbiased scientific study to determine the extent of the health hazards. Unfortunately, this announcement by the SIA appears to be an evasion of its responsibility to protect workers from undue harm.”

"Cancer's timetable won't wait for the SIA's delaying tactics", said Mandy Hawes, a San Jose attorney who represents hundreds of electronics workers and their families who are suffering from cancer, birth defects and other serious illnesses. "People who have been exposed to cancer-causing chemicals can't wait forever for the problems to be corrected. More and more workers are dying and many others are developing new cancers and we need dramatic action to save lives now, not several more years from now."

"We have already witnessed serious cancer clusters among semiconductor workers in Scotland and in the United States," said Johannes Ignacio, Executive Director of the Santa Clara Center of Occupational Safety and Health. "We have seen cancers among high-tech workers at IBM, National Semiconductor and other multinational companies. The industry isn't looking very far or hard to find the evidence. How much more of a body count do they want? If the health and safety of their workers has been a priority, their actions don't indicate it."

"The Communications Workers of America is outraged with the response from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) that it would conduct a preliminary review to determine whether it is possible to conduct a study of health risks in the semiconductor industry," said David Le Grande, Director of Occupational Safety and Health. "For many years, labor and public safety and health activists have known that employment within this industry involves work with and exposure to many toxic and, often, carcinogenic substances. In turn, there have been many, many cases of worker health problems related to these exposures", he continued. "The SIA's action is another way to keep from taking responsibility for the harm the semiconductor industry has done to the exposed workers who have developed or will develop often life-threatening health problems."

Jim McCourt of Phase II, a health and safety organization in Scotland that is working with Scottish employees of National Semiconductor who are suffering from cancer echoed these thoughts, "I think the SIA is playing for time. We were able to get a health study done here in Scotland, and it proved that there are high cancer rates. If we can do it here, I don t see why the SIA can't make it a priority to undertake a similar study and make it a priority to bring forth all the health data they currently have". McCourt went on to say, "The semiconductor industry must face up to the fact that their workers are dying. By not being forthcoming, they are further tarnishing the industry's reputation. We implore the regulators in the US to undertake a comprehensive, definitive health study of exposed workers."

In 1999 the SIA announced that they would appoint a Science Advisory Council (SAC) to make recommendations for action on health risks. The SAC finally made its recommendations to the SIA in October of 2001, but the results of this committee have still not been made public. "All we see is the SIA press release and a brief summary of the recommendations," concluded attorney Hawes. We demand to see the full SAC recommendations. As it is now, the SIA does not say when, if ever anything specific will happen, the lines of responsibility, the budget and the oversight. I don't see any urgency in their press release or specific recommendations for medical surveillance. It is a matter of urgency, for my clients and for the other workers whose health could still be protected."