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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Joseph LaDou, International Center for Occupational Medicine, University of California San Francisco, xxx, xxx, CA 95112, 970-920-3585, tsmith@svtc.org

The electronics industry is an active participant in the global marketplace. High-technology microelectronics has a major presence in countries such as China, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, and Malaysia. The migration of European, Japanese, and American companies accommodates regional markets. Low wage rates and limited enforcement of environmental regulation in developing countries are incentives for the dramatic global migration of this industry. This international migration has occurred before the many issues of occupational and environmental health and safety in the semiconductor industry have been addressed and solved. The manufacture of microelectronics products such as semiconductor chips is accompanied by a higher incidence of occupational illness than other manufacturing industries. Occupational illness data may reflect the widespread use of toxic materials in the high-technology electronics industry. The manufacture of integrated circuits requires the use of metals, photoactive chemicals, solvents, acids, and toxic gases in a wide variety of combinations and workplace settings. The microelectronics industry also presents problems of radiation exposure, and a variety of occupational stressors, including some unresolved ergonomic issues. The technology underlying this industry is continually changing. This fast-paced change, as well as the stringent security precautions of the industry, have added to the difficulty of instituting proper health and safety measures. Recent epidemiologic studies reveal an alarming increase in the rate of spontaneous abortion among cleanroom manufacturing workers. No definitive study has yet identified the cause of the reproductive effect. Other health issues, including occupational cancer, are yet to be studied with cohorts of adequate size.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn about learn about the state and extent of health studies in the electronics industry. 2.Participants will learn about learn about the challenges to doing health studies in electronics industry.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No