The relationship between spontaneous abortion and female workers in the semiconductor industry

Abstract

BackgroundThis study investigated the relationship between job type and the risk for spontaneous abortion to assess the reproductive toxicity of female workers in the semiconductor industry.MethodsA questionnaire survey was administered to current female workers of two semiconductor manufacturing plants in Korea. We included female workers who became pregnant at least 6 months after the start of their employment with the company. The pregnancy outcomes of 2,242 female workers who experienced 4,037 pregnancies were investigated. Personnel records were used to assign the subjects to one of three groups: fabrication process workers, packaging process workers, and clerical workers. To adjust for within-person correlations between pregnancies, a generalized estimating equation was used. The logistic regression analysis was limited to the first pregnancy after joining the company to satisfy the assumption of independence among pregnancies. Moreover, we stratified the analysis by time period (pregnancy in the years prior to 2008 vs. after 2009) to reflect differences in occupational exposure based on semiconductor production periods.ResultsThe risk for spontaneous abortion in female semiconductor workers was not significantly higher for fabrication and packaging process workers than for clerical workers. However, when we stratified by time period, the odds ratio for spontaneous abortion was significantly higher for packaging process workers who became pregnant prior to 2008 when compared with clerical workers (odds ratio: 2.21; 95% confidence interval: 1.01–4.81).ConclusionsWhen examining the pregnancies of female semiconductor workers that occurred prior to 2008, packaging process workers showed a significantly higher risk for spontaneous abortions than did clerical workers. The two semiconductor production periods in our study (prior to 2008 vs. after 2009) had different automated processes, chemical exposure levels, and working environments. Thus, the conditions prior to 2008 may have increased the risk for spontaneous abortions in packaging process workers in the semiconductor industry.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40557-017-0204-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Semiconductor Work and the Risk of Spontaneous Abortion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…One nested case-control study of semiconductor workers in Korea was published in 2017 [21]. This study was based on women workers who were able to become pregnant and included the entire cohort.…”

“…In addition, in 2017, a study based on Korean semiconductor workers was reported in which the SA risk in fabrication (Fab) and assembly workers was compared to office workers according to pregnancy time. There was a statistically significant difference when the pregnancy year was prior to 2008, but not significant after 2009 [21].…”

Associations between maternal occupational exposures and pregnancy outcomes among Chinese nurses: a nationwide study

“…We defined infertility as the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse [ 24 ]. Spontaneous abortion was defined as a pregnancy loss before 20 weeks [ 25 ]. Low birth weight was defined as offspring weighing less than 2, 500 g [ 26 ], and premature birth was defined as offspring born at a gestational age of fewer than 37 weeks [ 27 ].…”

Non-Motherhood between Obligation and Choice: Statistical Analysis Based on Permutation Tests of Spontaneous and Induced Abortion Rates in the Italian Context

“…Other scientific contributions, on the other hand, focus on the risk of spontaneous abortion in professionally exposed women [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. A study evaluating the risk of miscarriage found no differences between veterinarians exposed to inhaled anesthetics and control women [ 20 ].…”