Microelectronics, radiation, and superconductivity

Among the costs of technology are health hazards that face employees and consumers. New advances in the highly competitive field of microelectronics involve exposure to a variety of hazards such as gallium arsenide. Small high-technology industries appear unprepared to invest in health and safety. Although stray electromagnetic fields are not a new development, researchers are beginning to assemble data indicating that such fields pose a significant cancer risk under certain circumstances. Data have been obtained on fields associated with power lines on the one hand and consumer products on the other. Although not conclusive, the data are sufficient to warrant carefully designed research into the risks posed by electromagnetic fields. Because the scientific issues require research, there is a need to make basic social value decisions that will determine which technologies will be developed and which ones may be set aside because of their danger at the present time.