Samsung Chip Facility Said to Cause Cancer

When hearing that someone started suffering from cancer, leukemia or some other irreversible, or quasi-irreversible disease because of where he or she works, most people will likely think of a working environment which implies possible exposure to radioactive materials or other conditions that can have a degenerative effect on the human physiology (power plants, submarines etc.). As such, a memory chip making facility outside of Seoul might not be the first place to come to people's minds. Still, as unlikely as it sounds, Samsung is facing accusations that some of its employees got cancer because of certain toxic materials used in chip manufacturing.

According to Reuters, the South Korea company was first accused of this about ten years ago and, since then, a government investigation (during 2007 and 2008) concluded that, since no radiation leaks were found, the cancer cases were not the company's responsibility. However, with 22 employees infected with leukemia or lymphoma, 10 of which have already passed on, Samsung found that it could no longer ignore the outside pressure and has started its own investigation.

"We are deeply sorry about the loss of loved ones... and we've actively cooperated on epidemiologic investigations, which concluded there were no leaks of radiation," Cho Soo-in, president of Samsung's memory division, told reporters, Reuters reports. "But I feel we should also have done this (communicated with the public) in the first place to stop speculation from growing."

Some of Samsung's affected employees sought compensation from the government but have not, so far, taken any direct actions against the IT company itself. Of course, the hardware maker stands by its statement that its production lines weren't the cause, but Cho Soo-in did its best to assure all those involved that Samsung has only the best of intentions, stating that "we will do our best to improve the working environment and better communicate from now on."