KOREA - Trace amounts of leukemia-linked
carcinogens were found in semiconductor-producing factories of Samsung
Electronics Co. and other chipmakers, a governmental authority said Monday.
"We found that cancer-causing substances
are present inside the chip factories," said Park Jung-sun, head of the
state-run Korea Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, announcing
the results of its three-year study of potential cancer risks at
chip-manufacturing lines.
The study, conducted between 2009 and 2011 on
chip lines of Samsung, Hynix Semiconductor and Fairchild Semiconductor,
confirmed the presence of benzene, formaldehyde and radiation at levels way
below what is considered harmful. The three have been linked to leukemia.
It is the first time that the presence of
carcinogens, long claimed by civic groups and some employees, was confirmed by
an authoritative study. The same institute didn't find any traces of the agents
in two previous studies in 2007 and 2008.
There have been public health concerns over
workplace safety at Samsung, the world's No. 1 maker of computer memory chips,
after some of its employees died of leukemia and other cancers while or after
working at its chip manufacturing lines.
The company, however, has insisted that their
deaths were not work-related. A local court last year ruled that some of the
cancers the workers contracted could be classified as "industrial
accidents."
"The study says materials are present in
levels that are not harmful to humans. But we will strengthen monitoring of
workplace safety as it is a matter related to health and safety of our
workers," Samsung said.
According to the study released Monday,
benzene was found in 0.00038 ppm and 0.00990 ppm in two different chip-making
lines ? both below the permitted 1 ppm. Exposure to such low levels poses no
health risks over the lifetime of a worker who works eight hours per day at the
plant, the study said.
However, arsenic, a known carcinogen linked to
lung cancer, was present above the permitted level, it said.
Lee Sun-young
The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
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