Chinese Workers Poisoned while Assembling iPhone 4G (HD)
5/11/2010 12:55:00 PM
kenmouse
, Posted in
Much anticipated iPhone 4G will be officially unveiled by Steve Jobs in a Keynote at WWDC in June. Before the official launch, thousand of Chinese workers are busy in assembling iPhone 4G parts which is not an easy task at all. In a midst of it, a young worker Bai Bing who has spent months in an eastern Chinese hospital wants consumers to look beyond the shiny exterior of such gadgets (iPhone 4G) and let them know how much agony and pain they suffer from the task they do all day. She was poisoned by the chemical n-hexane, used to clean Apple components including iPhone touch screens. As many as 62 workers are adversely affected by n-methane chemical while cleaning the iPhone 4G touch panels.
“People should know what we do to create these products and what cost we pay,” said Bai Bing while lying on a bed in her ward.
Wu Mei, an another worker whose health deteriorated last spring after working for countless hours at Wintek, a Taiwan-owned electronics giant supplying Touch Panels for iPhone 4G. She was weaker than before and noticed she could not walk so fast.
“Then it became more and more serious. I found it very hard to go upstairs and if I squatted down I didn’t have the strength to get up. Later my hands became numb and I lost my balance – I would fall over if someone touched me,” she said.
By summer, she was admitted to hospital, where doctors struggled to diagnose the cause.
“I was terrified. I feared I might be paralyzed and spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair,” she said.
It is being reported that the worker was using n-hexane directly and was one of the first and worst affected. Other workers from the same room were also suffered headaches, dizziness and weakness, and pains in their limbs. After so many workers diagnosed with the same problem, Wintek immediately stopped using the chemical, but till then as many as 62 workers were adversely affected by n-methane chemical. Some of the employees even resigned from Wintek as a precautionary measure. Watch the video here.
Paul Whitehead, a toxicology consultant and member of the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry said-
Prolonged over-exposure to n-hexane can cause extensive damage to the peripheral nervous system and ultimately the spinal cord, leading to muscular weakness and atrophy and even paralysis. It can also affect male fertility. Recovery can take a year or more.
Many companies switch from alcohol to n-hexane for cleaning the electronics parts because it dries more quickly. But Wintek general manager overlooked the safe limits and offered it to use without proper ventilation. After the incident, Wintek had replaced the factory’s general manager.
After paying medical bills for treatment, a lawyer acting for 44 of the poisoning victims hopes that the firm will pay the compensation to the victims quickly as well.
Sometimes I feel sorry for the factory workers in China who do this all day risking their health.
[Via Gadgetsdna.com]
“People should know what we do to create these products and what cost we pay,” said Bai Bing while lying on a bed in her ward.
Wu Mei, an another worker whose health deteriorated last spring after working for countless hours at Wintek, a Taiwan-owned electronics giant supplying Touch Panels for iPhone 4G. She was weaker than before and noticed she could not walk so fast.
“Then it became more and more serious. I found it very hard to go upstairs and if I squatted down I didn’t have the strength to get up. Later my hands became numb and I lost my balance – I would fall over if someone touched me,” she said.
By summer, she was admitted to hospital, where doctors struggled to diagnose the cause.
“I was terrified. I feared I might be paralyzed and spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair,” she said.
It is being reported that the worker was using n-hexane directly and was one of the first and worst affected. Other workers from the same room were also suffered headaches, dizziness and weakness, and pains in their limbs. After so many workers diagnosed with the same problem, Wintek immediately stopped using the chemical, but till then as many as 62 workers were adversely affected by n-methane chemical. Some of the employees even resigned from Wintek as a precautionary measure. Watch the video here.
Paul Whitehead, a toxicology consultant and member of the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry said-
Prolonged over-exposure to n-hexane can cause extensive damage to the peripheral nervous system and ultimately the spinal cord, leading to muscular weakness and atrophy and even paralysis. It can also affect male fertility. Recovery can take a year or more.
Many companies switch from alcohol to n-hexane for cleaning the electronics parts because it dries more quickly. But Wintek general manager overlooked the safe limits and offered it to use without proper ventilation. After the incident, Wintek had replaced the factory’s general manager.
After paying medical bills for treatment, a lawyer acting for 44 of the poisoning victims hopes that the firm will pay the compensation to the victims quickly as well.
Sometimes I feel sorry for the factory workers in China who do this all day risking their health.
[Via Gadgetsdna.com]
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