A factory in China that assembles iPhone 6 and other Apple products, reportedly has cases of cancer allegedly due to exposure to certain chemicals.
According to International Business Times, the factory is located in Shenzhen, China, wherein 13 workers were diagnosed with blood cancer and five of them died because of the disease.
A report from Mail Online suggested that the workers are in their late teens up to early 20s. They have been diagnosed with leukemia since 2010. According to the report, the five workers who have died were at ages when blood cancer is rare, as doctors suggested.
The report also said workers were diagnosed "after falling sick at the massive factory", and families of victims and a labor group believe that the disease was caused by chemicals "used to clean electrical panels".
They also believe that many more workers may be have been affected by this cluster of incidence at the iPhone 6 factory.
Based on the report, families claimed that workers who were diagnosed with leukemia were terminated and denied of support for medical treatment, making the families bankrupt for shouldering the treatment.
It was only last week that Apple launched their newest gadgets including iPhone 6, iPhone 6 plus, and Apple Watch.
Apple, according to the report, said they are taking the allegations "very seriously". The factory, which is run by Foxconn, is said to be making about two million iPhones per week by 230,000 workers, Mail Online reported.
On the report by IBT, it mentioned that Apple said they no longer use hazardous chemicals after the same labor welfare incident happened in 2013. They added that chemicals benzene and n-hexane are no longer utilized in their productions.
In this recent hazardous labor issue, the alleged culprits are also the chemicals benzene and n-hexane.
The report added that the iPhone 6 maker said their production facilities are made sure to meet the safety standards US Occupational Safety and Health Administration for the handling of harmful chemicals.
Foxconn, on the other hand, claimed there is no evidence linking the deaths to the harmful chemicals, but they said they are to meet members of Labour Action China to talk about the leukemia cases, according to the report of IBT.
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