PHOENIX -- More people who worked in semiconductor chip manufacturing clean rooms in the Valley are coming forward with their stories of heartbreak and anger at an industry they were proud to work for, but feel their children have paid a terrible price.

On Thursday, a 5 investigates report examined a possible link to workers in so-called clean rooms and their children being born with birth defects.

One woman who watched the report said the images the investigation brought back are of a dark and painful chapter in her life working in the clean rooms.

"It brought back a lot of memories,” said the woman who did not want to be identified. “Thinking I was pregnant and finding out a short time later that I had miscarried, having four of them and nobody knowing why."

The woman eventually gave birth to two daughters. One of them had learning disabilities.

"It was not an easy life for her and it wasn’t fair,” the woman said. "After seeing the story on TV, I just cried. Those children -- it's not their fault."

She's referring to the Arballo and Numkena families, who worked in the clean rooms and are parents of children with severe birth defects.

5 investigates discovered case after case of birth defects and miscarriages from all over the Valley ties to families involved in the chip-making industry.

One chemical called Ethylene Glycol Ether, commonly used in clean rooms, is the focus of legal action.

According to documents obtained from a lawsuit filed against another company -- IBM -- the big chip manufacturers knew there was a possible connection between glycol ethers and the health of their employees' children decades ago.

In 1981, the company that made glycol ether issued a warning about possible miscarriages and birth defects.

In 1982, the California Department of Health Services issued a hazard alert that said Glycol Ethers "caused birth defects" in test animals.

Even the chip industry's own trade association issued a warning that year. Similar warnings came out in 1987, 1989 and 1993.

"There was never a warning that said birth defects are possible," said a former employee who did not want to be identified. "It made you sick to your stomach. It was just horrible smelling stuff."

Frank Verderame is an attorney who represents dozens of Valley families who believe the birth defects their children suffer from were caused by the work they did in the chip manufacturing industry.

"These companies made billions of dollars from these chips," Verderame said. "The people who profited from this wrongdoing should be the ones to pay to repair the problem, not the rest of society. Not the people who are buying insurance, but the companies who profited from it."

There appear to be safer alternatives to some of these toxic chemicals, 5 investigates discovered. An ad released in 1984 touted a chemical described as safer then Ethylene Glycol Ether.

Critics claim the less toxic chemicals would not necessarily cost more, but the companies in question have been hesitant to use them because it takes time and money to test them before they can be used in production.

"There are alternatives,” said Steve Brittle of the environmental group Don’t Waste Arizona. “They can find other ways to contain those releases or switch to chemicals that aren't as toxic, but there's no good way to force them to do that."

"The environmental laws don't require companies to use the least toxic alternative,” Brittle said.

Since the 5 investigates report aired, new parents who contacted CBS 5 News said they are now reliving the anguish of years past and making a possible, disturbing connection.

"They should have known from the beginning that those chemicals were bad,” one victim said. “They should have let us know this."

Meanwhile, dedicated parents of these children push forward.