Mystery of the cancer cluster killing Chinese workers at factory that makes new iPhone 6

[FaiKee]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2754824/Mystery-cancer-cluster-killing-Chinese-workers-factory-makes-new-iPhone-6-At-13-staff-diagnosed-leukaemia-falling-sick-plant-recent-years.html

 

Mystery of the cancer cluster killing Chinese workers at factory that makes new iPhone 6: 13 struck by leukaemia in SAME plant... were cleaning agents to blame?

• Five staff at iPhone factory in Shenzhen, China have died from leukaemia 
• Cancer may have been caused by cleaning chemicals, victims' families say 
• One worker had only been at factory four months before he was diagnosed
• Feng Honggan, 20, suffered heavy nosebleeds in factory and has since died

By Simon Parry In Shenzen, China

Published: 21:01 GMT, 13 September 2014 | Updated: 00:34 GMT, 14 September 2014

 

Apple is investigating its supply chain after the discovery of a disturbing cluster of leukaemia deaths among young workers at a factory in China where millions of its iPhones are made, The Mail on Sunday has learnt.

At least 13 workers in their late teens and early 20s have been diagnosed with leukaemia after falling sick at the massive factory in Shenzhen since 2010. Five have died ? and at ages when doctors say cases of the blood cancer are rare. 

Families and a labour welfare group believe the leukaemia was caused by exposure to chemicals used to clean electrical panels and say many more workers could have been affected. They add that young workers who fall sick with leukaemia are dismissed and denied continuing medical coverage, bankrupting families as they desperately pay for treatment.

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CONCERNS: Workers at the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, where iPhones are made 

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Apple says it is taking the allegations ?very seriously? and is looking into the issue at the Shenzhen factory

Apple ? whose launch celebrations for the iPhone 6 last week included a performance by Irish rock band U2 ? says it is taking the allegations ?very seriously? and is looking into the issue at the Shenzhen factory, where about two million iPhones a week are made by an army of 230,000 migrant workers from across China. 

The factory is used for manufacturing by other electronics giants but has been the main production base for Apple?s iPhones since the first model in 2007.

Details of the leukaemia cluster emerged after Apple last month announced it was banning the use of two potentially toxic chemicals, benzene and n-hexane, in the final assembly of iPhones and iPads.

Foxconn, owner of the Shenzhen factory, is sending officials to meet the Hong Kong-based labour welfare group to find out more about the leukaemia cases, the labour group said.

However, the Taiwan-based company, which also makes products for other electronics giants, insisted there was no evidence to link the leukaemia cases to the victims? work and said it had not used benzene and n-hexane ?for many years?.

 

It also claimed the rate of leukaemia at its plants across China was ?significantly lower than the reported annual rate?. Leukaemia affects about three people in 100,000 globally, but the majority of its victims are children and elderly people.

All 13 identified victims were aged between 19 and 24 when their cancer was diagnosed and were working on or near production lines mostly for iPhones and Apple products at the Longhua and Ganglan plants at Foxconn in Shenzhen, Labour Action China said.

Families of the victims said workers regularly used chemicals with only disposable plastic gloves and face masks for protection, were given little or no information about the potential dangers, and were not told which substances they were handling.

After falling sick at work and being diagnosed with leukaemia, the families of two workers said they were dismissed and paid off by Foxconn within three months, denying them medical cover to pay for hospital treatment.

The leukaemia cluster emerged when families visiting sick relatives in the cancer ward of the Number Two People?s Hospital in Shenzhen noticed how many other Foxconn workers were being treated.

[XerXis]

So, the iphone 6 is responsible for leukemia deaths in 2010? Typical headline designed to attract clicks

[Torolol]

minuscule residues of that dangerous chemicals might be still traceable on iPhone?

this could probably became a new extortion target for EPA.

[FaiKee]

minuscule residues of that dangerous chemicals might be still traceable on iPhone?

this could probably became a new extortion target for EPA.

I believe this is the main concern of the consumers/users, don't believe they could care about a dozen workers in a Chinese city they probably haven't heard of anyway.

[DeadEndAccount]

So, the iphone 6 is responsible for leukemia deaths in 2010? Typical headline designed to attract clicks

 

The OP after all is a pro-Microsoft fanboy so it shouldn't be surprising he is linking to such articles. I always wonder why there are forum rules when they're so rarely enforced by the moderators.

[techbeck]

The OP after all is a pro-Microsoft fanboy so it shouldn't be surprising he is linking to such articles. I always wonder why there are forum rules when they're so rarely enforced by the moderators.

 

OP changed title from original which paints the story in a different way and which is against rules. 

So, the iphone 6 is responsible for leukemia deaths in 2010? Typical headline designed to attract clicks

 

No, but I imagine the same chemicals are in use from the phones that were made in 2010.   And I always look at the source link with an unedited title.

 

Didnt Apple recently have issues with the nickel used in the iPhone causing rashes?

[Nick H. Supervisor]

<Title changed>

Please use the article title when possible. The article's full headline states that cleaning agents may be to blame, not the iPhone 6.