Cancer risk at computer factories

Workers at computer factories are at an increased risk of dying of cancer, according to the results of a study released yesterday.

The deaths of more than 30,000 workers employed at IBM factories across the US were investigated, with the results published in the open access journal, Environmental Health.

The study reveals that IBM workers were more likely to have died of cancer, including brain, kidney or breast cancer, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma than the rest of the population.

The author has not been able to link the deaths to any specific chemicals or other toxic exposures. The results do, however, confirm previous, smaller studies and highlight clear health risks for workers in computer factories across the world.

Richard Clapp from Boston University School of Public Health was contracted to undertake the study by plaintiffs as part of a Californian lawsuit against IBM.

The results of Clapp's analysis indicate there was increased mortality due to several types of cancer, especially in manufacturing workers. Most notably, there was an excess of deaths due to cancer of the brain and central nervous system.

20/10/06