Workers in computer factories are at an elevated cancer risk

[Judi Lynn]

Workers in computer factories are at an elevated cancer risk
Posted on : Thu, 19 Oct 2006 07:30:00 GMT | Author : Thomas Blythe

A new study conducted by researchers in the United States has suggested that workers in a computer factory may have a higher likelihood of dying from cancer.

The study which has been published in the online scientific journal Environmental Health was conducted by Dr Richard Clapp from the Boston University School of Public Health. He analyzed the data regarding the causes of deaths of workers who were employed at IBM factories in the United States in what comprises to be one of the largest published study ever of this kind.

This data was attained from IBM corporation itself as a part of a lawsuit against the corporation. Dr. Clapp studied the deaths of more than 30,000 IBM workers who had been employed for a minimum of five years and who had died between the years 1969 and 2001. Their causes of death were then compared with the causes of death of the general American population for the same period.

Dr. Clapp found that workers in IBM factories had an increased rate of dying from different types of cancer including brain cancer, breast cancer, kidney cancer and cancer of the central nervous system, as compared to the causes of death from the American population for the same time period.
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http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/9605.html

[Tesha]

1. Lead, solvents, cadmium, brominated fire retardants, ...

It's things like exposure to lead, solvents, cadmium, brominated
fire retardants in plastics, etc.

ROHS should make this slightly better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Substances_Directive

Tesha