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Birth Defect Attorney

Baltimore, Maryland

Semiconductor Workers and Birth Defects

The semiconductor industry is vital to today’s world. Semiconductor companies such as IBM, Motorola, Intel, Apple, Digital (Compaq) and National Semiconductor manufacture silicon chips for dozens of products, such as computer components and employ thousands of people. However, the semiconductor industry has exposed workers to many dangerous chemicals that can cause miscarriages and birth defects.

Silicon chips are made up of several layers with complex patterns. When silicon layers are made, toxic solvents such as glycol ether are used. Particles of dust can destroy silicon chips so much of the work is performed in “clean rooms” where there is little or no dust. The air in these clean rooms is continuously recirculated, which exposes semiconductor workers to the toxic solvents since they are not filtered from the air.

Types of Birth Defects

These toxic chemicals and solvents used in the semiconductor industry can harm the reproductive systems of both male and female workers exposed to them, resulting in birth defects of children born to these workers. Birth defects as a result of solvent exposure include:

  • Blindness
  • Deafness
  • Brain injury
  • Cleft lip and palate and other craniofacial deformities
  • Spina bifida
  • Heart defects
  • Digestive defects
  • Missing or deformed limbs

A 1999 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) study detailed the association between working in the semiconductor clean rooms and the occurrence of birth defects.  The study showed that women who worked in the semiconductor industry had a 13 times greater risk of delivering children with birth defects than women who were not employed in that industry.

If you have a child with birth defects, and have worked in the semiconductor industry in the 1980’s or 1990’s, your child may have a right to compensation.  At the Yost Legal Group we will help you find answers.  Please contact the experienced Maryland birth defects attorneys at the Yost Legal Group for an initial consultation in Baltimore.

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Maryland Personal Injury Disclaimer: The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. We invite you to contact our personal injury attorneys for advice regarding your personal injury case. Our birth defect attorneys can help you if you are a semiconductor workers and your child has suffered from birth injuries. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship and you should not send any confidential information to us until such a relationship has been established. We serve clients in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.