Semiconductor Industry Health Study in Taiwan

We reported that exposure to multiple chemicals including ethylene glycol ethers (EGEs) in photolithography might be associated with long menstrual cycles and may play an important role in a prolonged time to pregnancy in the wafer manufacturing industry. Semiconductor fabrication employs a complex array of chemicals, including ethylene glycol ethers (EGEs). In our retrospective cohort study, women who were potentially exposed to EGEs showed longer time to pregnancy compared with those not exposed. This provided further evidence that EGEs may cause female subfertility. In our cross-sectional survey on the length of menstrual cycles among 606 female semiconductor workers, women whose jobs involved probable exposure to EGEs, which are suspected reproductive toxins, had 4–5 times the odds of long cycles (>35 days) compared to unexposed workers. Workers exposed to EGEs were also exposed to other chemicals, however.  We also demonstrated evidence on the hypotheses that maternal exposure to organic solvents near conception increases the risk of cancer in offspring and that paternal exposure during preconception relates to infant mortality and deaths due to congenital malformation. Our study suggests that female electronics workers with potential exposure to chlorinated organic solvents during periconception might increase risks of childhood cancers, especially for leukemia while male electronics workers, possibly exposure to organic solvents during preconception, might increase infant mortality and deaths due to congenital malformation, especially for cardiac defects. In the semiconductor industry, we found evidence of a possible link between paternal preconception exposure of semiconductor manufacturing and an increased risk of congenital anomalies, especially of the heart. However, there is no convincing evidence that female workers employed during the periconceptional period in the semiconductor industry had higher risks of having adverse birth outcomes or death due to congenital malformations.