Following an initial feasibility assessment, in 2008 the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) began a health study of former IBM Endicott employees to determine if they are more likely to develop certain types of cancer than the general public. NIOSH estimated the cost of the study at $3.1 million. The scope of the study was later expanded to include kidney failure among the employees and birth defects among their children. The study found lower total deaths and cancer deaths than would have been expected from the general population.