What in the Semiconductor Chip Manufacturing Process Causes Injury?
The process of fabricating computer chips involves exposure
to photoresist containing ethylene glycol ethers and to other
solvents. The litigation to date has been based on injuries caused
primarily by exposure ethylene glycol ethers.
How are Workers Exposed During Semiconductor
Chip Manufacturing Process?
Semiconductor chip manufacturing involves a complex
fabrication process, creating a chip that consists of many layers
with each layer having a complex pattern. The step in the manufacturing
process that results in exposure to solvents is the creation
of the detailed pattern on the silicone layers. The detailed
patterns are created on the layers of silicon using a technique
called photolithography. Photolithography involves applying photoresist
over the silicon. The unexposed silicone is washed away using
solvents. Often the the solvent contains harmful substances such
as glycol ethers, and plant clean room workers involved in photolithography
may be harmed by inhalation and exposure.
In addition, the Photolithography process in performed
in clean rooms which are designed so that the air in the clean
rooms is continuously filtered and recirculated. One effect of
this clean room design is that exposure to the solvent is enhanced.
The process of photolithography is repeated many times to build
the transistors and other electronic circuitry that make up each
chip.
What Injuries are Caused by Exposure to Glycol Ethers?
The ethylene based glycol ethers used in the computer
chip manufacturing industry are most strongly associated with
reproductive and developmental health problems, including: miscarriages,
spontaneous abortions, damage to testes, subfertility, damage
to the embryo and fetus, and birth defects.
Which Companies Manufacture Semiconductor
Chips?
The major manufacturers include Intel, IBM, Digital
(compaq), Motorola, Texas Instruments, Apple, Zilog, National
Semiconductor, VIA /Cyrix, IDT, ITT, Renaissance Microsystems,
Sematech AT&T, Micron Technology and Advanced Micro Devices.
How Many Semiconductor Workers Have
Been Exposed to Glycol Ethers?
Approximately 50,000 Americans worked in semiconductor
fabrication rooms during the period of time from 1986 through
the mid-1990s. In one study examining chemical use and exposure
during 1986-90 in 82 semiconductor fabrication rooms involving
14 companies, ethylene based glycol ether solvents were used
in 63% of the fabrication rooms.
What is the Evidence Linking Glycol Ethers and Health Problems?
A study of 15 semiconductor manufacturers published in the December
1995 issue of the American Journal of Independent Medicine showed
that women working in silicon wafer manufacturing rooms who handled
chemicals including glycol ethers suffered a 14% miscarriage
rate, compared to women in the industry who did not work in fabrication
areas, who suffered a rate of 10%. The study was conducted by
researchers at the University of California at Davis and was
cosponsored by the semiconductor industry.
In 1986 a Digital Equipment Corporation epidemiological study
found a miscarriage rate 3 times the expected rate among female
clean room workers at Digital's chip fabrication plant in Hudson,
Massachusetts.
What is the Basis of Lawsuits?
Beginning in the early 1980s the government and some chemical
suppliers were publishing warnings of adverse health effects
associated with exposure to glycol ethers. Despite these warnings,
certain companies chose not to warn about the known reproductive
and developmental health risks. The industry continued to use
glycol ethers for another ten years until mid-1990 when their
own industry funded studies confirmed earlier finding.
Lawyers pursing these cases argue:
With regard to the Manufacturer/supplier of the Solvent:
That the workers (parents) has no knowledge or inadequate knowledge
of the health hazards associated with the solvents; that the
product label provided inadequate or no information regarding
the risks; scientific and medical information on the health hazards
existed prior to and during the time the worker used the product
and less toxic alternative products were available.
The employer failed to communicate the health hazards associated with the product; and/or the employer failed to provide a safe workplace.
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