| DFW,
This was a five year study and shows a statistical, not causal
relationship between chip processes and miscarriages. Digital has
advised employees of the study and has recommended pregnant employees
to seek other positions and has offered women of child bearing age
the ability to transfer to other positions as well. Other computer
chip manufacturer's are being advised of the study, so that they
may take appropriate action. I'm sure something will be published
by the company in DTW, etc.... soon.
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| re: .1
This was a five year study and shows a statistical, not causal
relationship between chip processes and miscarriages.
I thought that it was a one-time study. I was in the control group of the
study, along with a number of people in my group, both male and female. We
work in building 2 at HLO, so we're not exposed to the chemicals that the
production-line workers are exposed to (or at least not directly exposed).
They found two levels of increased miscarriage: The first was somewhat
higher than the control group (or the general population), but not high
enough to be statistically significant. The second group miscarried about
twice the level of the control group (or the general population). The people
who carried out the study said that more research was needed.
Apparently (my information comes from this morning's Boston Globe) the study
was commissioned when some workers noticed a higher-than-normal rate of
miscarriage among women who work on the chip-production lines. That's a
nice response on the part of the company; they certainly could have ignored
it. Let's hope that they carry through further.
-- hal
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| Associated Press Wed 24-DEC-1986 04:11 Digital Miscarriages
Study: Miscarriages Up In Women Exposed In Computer Chip Process
HUDSON, Mass. (AP) - Significantly more miscarriages have been
found among women production workers at a semiconductor plant than
those not exposed to processes used in making computer chips, a
study has found.
In one principal area of production, the level of miscarriages
was twice that of non-production workers, according to the
University of Massachusetts' School of Public Health study
commissioned by Digital Equipment Corp.
The findings, believed to be the first of its kind in the
computer industry, has broad implications for the computer chip
industry, which employs more than 55,000 U.S. production workers,
with most believed to be women.
The study, which found no evidence of a wide range of other
major health disorders such as birth defects and infertility,
surveyed 744 of Digital's nearly 2,000 workers at the Hudson
semiconductor plant. Of those studied, 294 were production-line
workers and the rest were non-production workers.
The study, based on the history of the workers at the plant for
five years, was designed to measure a wide range of possible health
problems among women and men. In all, 471 women were studied and
273 men.
Among the non-production workers, the study found that 18
percent of the pregnancies resulted in miscarriages, similar to the
general population.
The incidence of miscarriages among production workers involved
in what is known as photolithography, however, was 29 percent. A
variety of solvents are used in the process, which involves
printing circuits on computer chips.
Among workers in a phase of production that uses acids in an
etching process, researchers found a miscarriage rate of 39
percent, twice that of the control group.
Digital said it immediately passed along the findings to its
workers.
``We've kept our employees informed all along,'' spokesman
Jeffrey Gibson said Tuesday. He said Digital adopted a policy
during the study of encouraging pregnant production workers to seek
transfers.
As a further precaution, Gibson said Digital also is offering to
transfer any female production worker of child-bearing age to
non-production work if they have concerns about future pregnancy.
Gibson said Digital decided to do a study after employees began
noticing increased cases of miscarriages among their colleagues.
Digital and the researchers stressed that the link between
production-line work and increased miscarriages was only a
statistical one and that no causal relationship between the health
and specific chemicals had been established.
The Semiconductor Industry Association, headquartered south of
San Francisco, said Digital sent it a summary of the findings and
that the information was passed along to 60 of its computer chip
manufacturer members.
``The reaction (of manufacturers) was that the firms all felt an
obligation to communicate the information about the study to their
employees,'' said Shelia Sandow, association spokeswoman.
The full study, conducted by Harris Pastides, an associate
professor of public health at the University of Massachusetts in
Amherst, and Edward Calabrese, a professor of toxicology, is still
going through review before publication in a medical journal.
But Digital officials said they received a copy of the study
last month, and felt, along with its authors, a responsibility to
release at least a summary of the findings because of the health
concerns.
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| The powers that be, basically. The folks who make the decisions to
cut our benefits and tell us AFTER the fact. The folks who knew
that chemicals were being stored at the Mill on 5-1, and didn't elect
to tell anyone until after the fire they caused.
Uncle Ken's resolve in this study is indeed admirable, but by no means
noteworthy.
I am pessimistic about the intent behind the study, and Digital's
motivation is still the almighty buck.
Karen
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