Stories have arisen from the far corners of the globe about the economic and environmental injustices caused by the high-tech industry. They come from Silicon Glenn in Scotland, Silicon Plateau in India, Silicon Island in Taiwan and Silicon Paddy in China, as well as many countries in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America. And they are still being written in Silicon Valley, the epicenter of the high-tech industry.

Communities where the electronics industry resides often experience high levels of pollution as well as social infrastructure problems caused by rapid growth. Since the early 80s, when a small community group in Silicon Valley started to investigate sick high-tech workers, people have been standing up to the electronics companies around the globe and fighting for clean air and water, a living wage and safe working conditions. High-tech workers suffer reproductive problems, cancer and other illness because they handle toxic chemicals everyday. Often earning only poverty wages, many high-tech families have no choice but to live in sub-standard housing in the neighborhoods nearest to the factories they work in, creating a double exposure in the home and the workplace.

Jim Moore is one of thousands of ex-IBM employees to suffer from irregular terminal illnesses.

History of illness in Silicon Valley

Read the story of Jim Moore, an IBM worker who passed away fighting for justice for his fellow workers, working and retired, in the high-tech industry.

Read about AXT, a semiconductor company founded in Silicon Valley that knowingly exposed workers to over 21 times the permissible limit of arsenic before closing down and moving to China.