Businessweek’s (June 19, 2017) feature story, “The Dark Side of Asian Microchip Production,” reveals U.S. chipmakers realized they had a toxic problem, so they outsourced it–to Asia. Twenty-five years ago, U.S. tech companies pledged to stop using chemicals that were proven to cause miscarriages and birth defects. But they did not ensure their Asian suppliers do the same. The 8 page article, which you can use when discussing ethics in OM, explains that that chip production is mostly about chemistry.
Chemicals and light combine to print circuits onto silicon wafers. Intel was “putting into industrial production a lot of really nasty chemicals. There was just no knowledge of these things, and we were pouring stuff down into the city sewer system,” said one of Intel’s founders. Years later, when workers dug up the pipes beneath Intel, they discovered the bottom was completely eaten out. Authorities ended up creating more hazardous waste sites in the heart of Silicon Valley than in any other place in the U.S.
Making computer chips involves hundreds of chemicals. The women on the production lines work in “cleanrooms” and wear protective suits, but that is for the chips’ protection, not theirs. The women are exposed to chemicals that include reproductive toxins, mutagens, and carcinogens. The result: workers’ unborn children can suffer birth defects or childhood diseases, and the women can develop cancer that does not show up until long after exposure.
Thousands of women at chip plants across Asia are still exposed to toxins called EGEs. IBM studies, more than 2 decades ago, showed the risks could still persist overseas. IBM knew that EGEs were cheap, effective, and abundantly available and that less-dangerous alternatives were far more expensive. Its published report cited the higher costs of safety.
Classroom discussion questions:
- What other industries has the U.S. outsourced that were dirty or dangerous?
- Why has it been so difficult to monitor the chip supply chain?