CHINESE WORKERS POISONED MAKING CELL PHONES.

Chinese workers poisoned while making your latest gadget

NEXT month, amid the usual hoopla, Apple will unveil its latest gadget: the much-awaited iPhone 4G. Halfway round the globe from the company's California headquarters, a young worker who has spent months in a Chinese hospital wants consumers to look beyond the shiny exterior of such gadgets.

''People should know what we do to create these products and what cost we pay,'' said Bai Bing. She is one of scores of young workers in the city of Suzhou who were poisoned by the chemical n-hexane, which they say was used to clean Apple components including iPhone touch screens.

Wu Mei - who, like the others, asked me to use her nickname - recalled her fear as her health suddenly deteriorated. At first, she thought she was simply tired from the long working hours at Wintek, a Taiwan-owned electronics giant. She was weaker and noticed she could not walk as 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.''

By the middle of last year, she was admitted to hospital, where doctors struggled to diagnose the cause. ''I was terrified. I feared I might be paralysed and spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair,'' she said.

Because she was using n-hexane directly, she was one of the first and worst-affected. But more and more workers from the same room were suffering headaches, dizziness and weakness, and pain in their limbs.

An occupational diseases hospital that saw several victims diagnosed the problem in August and Wintek stopped using the chemical. But thanks to the previous months of exposure, at least 62 workers would require medical care. Many spent months in hospital.

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, said Paul Whitehead, a toxicology consultant and member of the British Royal Society of Chemistry. It can also affect male fertility. Recovery can take a year or more.

The chemical's potential risks are well known in industry, as are safe exposure limits. But the Wintek manager who decided to switch from alcohol to n-hexane for cleaning - apparently because it dried more quickly - did not assess the dangers. It was used without proper ventilation.


They instantly recognised pictures of an iPhone and said they were cleaning touch screens, adding that items for other brands were not affected because Apple had isolated its production line. A lawyer acting for 44 of the poisoning victims also said several had named Apple.

Wintek, which does not discuss its clients, said it had replaced the factory's general manager. It now notifies workers whose jobs may involve risk in advance, has tightened procedures for the introduction of new chemicals, and carries out medical checks. It has paid medical fees for those affected and says it will pay compensation according to the law.

There is no suggestion that Apple was responsible for the use of n-hexane.

Apple declined to answer questions about the poisonings or about the firms involved, saying it does not reveal who it works with. But a spokeswoman pointed to Apple's code of conduct, which sets strict requirements for working and environmental practices.

Apple's 2010 audit shows that manufacturers are routinely breaching the code. Most - 54 per cent - broke the 60-hour weekly work limit more than half the time. Another 39 per cent failed to meet occupational injury prevention requirements; 17 per cent failed on chemical exposure standards; and 35 per cent did not meet wage and benefits requirements, with 24 of the 102 factories paying less than the minimum wage.

Three facilities used underage workers and three had falsified records. Apple said it terminated the contract in one of the cases, and required suppliers to make improvements and submit to reviews following other breaches.