three on SILICON VALLEY FEARS TOXIN IS FAR WORSE THANFIRST BELIEVED

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: David Akin <david () davidakin com>
Organization: http://www.davidakin.com
Reply-To: david () davidakin com
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 15:25:42 -0500
To: dave () farber net
Subject: RE: [IP] SILICON VALLEY FEARS TOXIN IS FAR WORSE THANFIRST BELIEVED

And we had this story, on the same theme, in our paper Monday:

Computer chip production raises environmental questions

The production of computer chips -- the thumbnail-sized bits of silicon
at the heart of any information-age appliance -- is a massively wasteful
process and one that may be dumping an unknown level of toxic chemicals
back into the environment, a new study says.

The study, led by Eric Williams of the United Nations University in
Japan, says the production of a garden-variety computer chip known as
DRAM consumed 800 kilograms of fossil fuel and chemicals for every
kilogram of DRAM chips made -- a ratio of one unit of chips for 800
units of input.

By comparison, it takes about two tonnes of fossil fuels to make a car
that weighs a tonne, a ratio of 1:2.

Moreover, almost none of the chemicals used to produce computer chips
end up in the final product, Mr. Williams said, which means most of that
material must be discarded or reused . . .

[Full story at: http://tinyurl.com/50h0]

David Akin
CTV News
The Globe and Mail

Office: 416.313.2503
Mobile: 416.528.3819



------ End of Forwarded Message

------ Forwarded Message
From: Ryan Punt <ryan () noam homeip net>
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 14:33:11 -0600
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] more on SILICON VALLEY FEARS TOXIN IS FAR WORSETHAN FIRST
BELIEVED

Dave,

I remember using TCE as a cutting agent for steel machining as recently as
1995.  Ahh, High School jobs in Minnesota farm country -- who knew they
could kill you?

It ("Mystic Metal Mover" was the brand name) was a great agent as I recall,
but I also recall being warned never to use it to cut aluminum, as it
released a very interesting purple vapor.  The most interesting day at that
job involved turning 2.5" round stainless down to 3/8" at each end of a
2-foot length (press-fit bushing on a roller body) in a barely-ventilated
room.  My mom actually commented on how "out of it (almost high)" I seemed
that night at dinner.

The company I worked for disposed of the stuff in 55-gallon drums, but I've
no idea where they might have shipped them.

Soon after school resumed, I talked to the head machinist, who was rather
distressed that they couldn't get the stuff from their supplier anymore.

Regards,
Ryan



------ End of Forwarded Message

------ Forwarded Message
From: Micheal Sherrill <micheal () beethoven com>
Reply-To: micheal () beethoven com
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 15:35:36 -0500
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] more on SILICON VALLEY FEARS TOXIN IS FAR WORSETHAN FIRST
BELIEVED


Hello Dave:  If you use this please remove my name.  Spammers are driving me
crazy.

The presence of TCE in groundwater is only one of the ingredients to fear.
I would be more worried about the smorgasbord of heavy metals used in
semiconductor wafer fabrication and mixed with all the solvents used to
remove them during manufacturing processes.  In the old days this “cocktail”
was just dumped out behind the building.  I worked on Old Middlefield Road
in Mountain View and our company parking lot faced an empty field behind one
of the original Fairchild Semiconductor fabs.  Later, sold to Raytheon, it
became a Superfund site.  During the spring and summer, if the ground was
moist from a rain, when we walked to our cars at night there was sometimes a
vapor that rose from the bare soil.  A green-yellow glow often would ripple
through the vapor.  Kind of pretty in a lethal sort of way.

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