Manufacturing Detox — The Need for Greater Transparency

Substantial concerns exist for many chemicals used in electronics production, both for potential exposure in the manufacturing workplace and the potential for environmental consequences following their release in waste streams. Once again, because electronics manufacturing is concentrated in China and Southeast Asia, these communities are most impacted by manufacturing hazards.

Particularly in China there are reports of electronics manufacturing factories using hazardous chemicals that can cause cancer (carcinogens such as benzene) or nerve damage (neurotoxins such as n-hexane) and are suspected of causing birth defects and miscarriages.[59] In South Korea, more than 200 factory workers have made allegations that their life-threatening illnesses, including cancer, are a result of exposure to hazardous chemicals from working at semiconductor factories.[60] More recently, at least six workers developed acute methanol poisoning, which lead to vision damage and blindness, while working at phone component supplier factories for Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.[61]

Despite these concerns, very few electronics brands actually know what chemicals their suppliers are using to make their products, especially those chemicals such as degreasers or solvents, which are used in the manufacturing process, but do not end up in the final product.

It is not acceptable for supply chain pollution to remain hidden due to a lack of transparency. Communities living with the impacts of manufacturing pollution have a right to know what is being released into their local environment and workers have a right to know if their jobs could cause them long-term health problems.

A few companies are in the initial phases of monitoring and restricting process chemicals. In 2014, Apple banned the use of benzene and n-hexane in its final assembly facilities. Since then, Apple, HP and Microsoft have extended this commitment to all manufacturing processes. Dell and Google have banned the use of these chemicals in cutting and degreasing processes, and Fairphone has banned them at final assembly plants. In its product RSL, Lenovo restricts only ozone-depleting substances for use in manufacturing, which while important for the atmosphere, does not qualify as an effort to protect workers or the local environment from potential exposures to workplace chemicals. It’s welcome that now five companies (Apple, Dell, Google, HP and Microsoft) have increased transparency around processed chemicals they are restricting (and to what level) in the manufacture of their products, however, these lists are relatively short in comparison to the amount of chemicals used in production. TCO Certified proposes the good idea of using an “accepted” substances list, rather than “restricted” substances, to ensure that the safety of any chemicals used in manufacturing has been reviewed.[62]

More research is needed today to learn the full extent of the use and release of hazardous chemicals in the electronics manufacturing supply chain. This should also take into account the size of the electronics sector and the location of many suppliers in countries in the Global South, where regulations may not be as stringent as in Europe or North America. Companies should lead the way in investigating their own supply chains and revealing the results to their customers, so that they can begin addressing the problems. In addition to identification, prevention and mitigation of adverse health impacts for workers should be conducted throughout the company’s entire supply chain, including remediations for workers who have suffered from workplace exposures.