PROSPECTIVE MONITORING OF EARLY FETAL LOSS AND CLINICAL SPONTANEOUS-ABORTION AMONG FEMALE SEMICONDUCTOR WORKERS

Women who work in silicon wafer fabrication rooms (fabs) have been rep orted to have an increased risk of spontaneous abortion (SAB). Althoug h previous studies have included only clinically recognized SABs, more than two-thirds of SABs may be clinically unrecognized. To determine whether fab work is associated with SAB, we recruited 152 fab and 251 nonfab workers, who collected urine samples for a 6-month period. Samp les were analyzed by immunoradiometric assay for the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin to detect early fetal losses. Approximately 63 % of fab and 46% of nonfab pregnancies ended in SAB [adjusted relative risk (RR) = 1.25; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.63-1.76]. Similar RR were seen for women who worked in dopant and thin-film processes (a djusted RR = 1.30; 95% CI = 0.51-1.96) or in masking (adjusted RR = 1. 30; 95% CI = 0.59-1.84). The four pregnancies among women who worked w ith ethylene-based glycol ethers ended in SAB. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, In c.