![No Picture](https://towardfreedom.org/wp-content/themes/mh-magazine/images/placeholder-medium.png)
Toxic Chips (12/99)
Henry Drew worked at an East Fishkill, New York, semiconductor plant for 15 years. He remembers how four women workers had miscarriages and that several others complained about a variety of illnesses. One of them was his wife Debbie, who had to undergo two operations to remove brain tumors and remains partially paralyzed from the experiences. Debbie left the computer chip industry in 1989; Henry in 1992.
Drew adamantly believes that the US government should have played a stronger role in monitoring the semiconductor industry in the 1980s to protect worker health and prevent safety problems. "I wrote a letter to OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health and Administration] and never got a reply," Drew said. "I can recall officials from that agency coming to inspect the plant only once or twice. Given the number of people getting sick, you would think that OSHA would have taken a closer look."