"once a chip is in the circuit it is many times less likely to 'see' ESD, Since the 1232 will not have any off the board wires, I would not worry"
****What if someone directly touches the pins of the 1232, wouldn't it be succeptible to ESD?***

When the chip is soldered on the circuit board, there will be a "discharge path" and thsu the amount of esd required to blow the chip will be much higher.

Erik