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Objective: To evaluate potential cancer risks in the US semiconductor wafer fabrication industry., Methods: A cohort of 100,081 semiconductor workers employed between 1968 and 2002 was studied. Standardized mortality ratios and relative risks (RRs) were estimated., Results: Standardized mortality ratios were similar and significantly low among fabrication and nonfabrication workers for all causes (0.54 and 0.54) and all cancers (0.74 and 0.72). Internal comparisons also showed similar overall cancer risks among fabrication workers (RR = 0.98), including process equipment operators and process equipment service technicians (OP/EST) employed in cleanrooms (RR = 0.97), compared with nonfabrication workers. Nonsignificantly elevated RRs were observed for a few cancer sites among OP/EST workers, but the numbers of deaths were small and there were no trends of increasing risk with duration of employment., Conclusions: Work in the US semiconductor industry, including semiconductor wafer fabrication in cleanrooms, was not associated with increased cancer mortality overall or mortality from any specific form of cancer. However, due to the young average age of this cohort and its associated relatively low numbers of deaths, regular mortality updates of this semiconductor worker cohort are warranted.

Objective: To classify 100,081 semiconductor workers employed during 1983-2002, and some as early as 1968, regarding potential for chemical exposures in cleanrooms during silicon wafer fabrication., Methods: This study involved site visits to 10 cities with fabrication facilities, evaluation of 12,300 personal air samples for >60 chemicals, and examination of >37,000 departments and >8600 job codes to develop exposure groupings., Results: Each worker was classified into one of five exposure groups on the basis of job-department combinations: 1) fabrication process equipment operators or process equipment service technicians working in cleanrooms (n = 28,583); 2) professionals such as supervisors working in fabrication areas (n = 8642); 3) professionals and office workers in nonfabrication areas (n = 53,512); 4) back-end workers (n = 5256); or 5) other nonfabrication workers (n = 4088). More than 98% of the personal air samples were below current occupational exposure limits., Conclusions: Although specific chemical exposures at the level of the individual could not be quantified, semiconductor workers were classified into broad exposure groups for assessment of cancer mortality in an epidemiologic study.

Objective: To assess potential health risks associated with work in a large motion picture film-processing facility., Methods: A retrospective cohort mortality study was conducted during 1960-2000 among 2646 film workers. Job family categories, created from detailed employee work history information, were used to evaluate chemical exposure patterns., Results: Overall mortality was as expected (standardized mortality ratio [SMR] = 1.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.0-1.2). Statistically significant associations were found for suicides (SMR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.2-3.0) among the hourly workers and AIDS (SMR = 5.3; 95% CI = 1.7-12.3) among the administrative workers. Film developers had increases of respiratory cancer (SMR = 1.9; 95% CI = 1.1-3.0) and suicides (SMR = 2.4; 95% CI = 1.0-4.7), whereas film assemblers had an increase in suicides (SMR = 2.4; 95% CI = 1.2-4.4) only., Conclusions: Excess deaths resulting from suicides and AIDS among the workforce suggest that nonoccupational influences may be involved in the mortality of this cohort and warrant further investigations.