Kim Inah, Kim Myoung-Hee, Lim Sinye
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
People's Health Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
PLoS One. 2015 May 4;10(5):e0123679. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123679. eCollection 2015.
Despite the global expansion of supply chains and changes to the production process, few studies since the mid-1990 s and 2000s have examined reproductive risks of the microelectronics industry; we examined the reproductive risks among female microelectronics workers in South Korea.
Based on claim data from the National Health Insurance (2008-2012), we estimated age-specific rates of spontaneous abortion (SAB) and menstrual aberration (MA) among women aged 20 to 39 years. We compared data between microelectronics workers and three different control groups: economically inactive women, the working population as a whole, and workers employed in the bank industry. For an effect measure, age-stratified relative risks (RRs) were estimated.
Female workers in the microelectronics industry showed significantly higher risk for SAB and MA compared to control groups. The RRs for SAB with reference to economically inactive women, working population, and bank workers in their twenties were 1.57, 1.40, and 1.37, respectively, and the RRs for MA among females in their twenties were 1.54, 1.38, and 1.48, respectively. For women in their thirties, RRs for SAB were 1.58, 1.67, and 1.13, and those for MA were 1.25, 1.35, and 1.23 compared to the three control populations, respectively. All RRs were statistically significant at a level of 0.05, except for the SAB case comparison with bank workers in their thirties.
Despite technical innovations and health and safety measures, female workers in microelectronics industry in South Korea have high rates of SAB and MA, suggesting continued exposure to reproductive hazards. Further etiologic studies based on primary data collection and careful surveillance are required to confirm these results.
尽管供应链在全球范围内扩张，生产流程也有所变化，但自20世纪90年代中期和21世纪初以来，很少有研究探讨微电子行业的生殖风险；我们对韩国女性微电子工人的生殖风险进行了研究。
基于国民健康保险（2008 - 2012年）的理赔数据，我们估算了20至39岁女性的自然流产（SAB）和月经紊乱（MA）的年龄别发生率。我们比较了微电子工人与三个不同对照组的数据：非经济活动女性、全体在职人口以及银行业从业人员。对于效应量，我们估算了年龄分层的相对风险（RRs）。
与对照组相比，微电子行业的女性工人出现SAB和MA的风险显著更高。二十多岁女性相对于非经济活动女性、在职人口和银行从业人员的SAB的RRs分别为1.57、1.40和1.37，二十多岁女性MA的RRs分别为1.54、1.38和1.48。对于三十多岁的女性，与三个对照人群相比，SAB的RRs分别为1.58、1.67和1.13，MA的RRs分别为1.25、1.35和1.23。除了三十多岁女性与银行从业人员的SAB病例比较外，所有RRs在0.05水平上均具有统计学意义。
尽管有技术创新以及健康和安全措施，但韩国微电子行业的女性工人SAB和MA的发生率较高，这表明她们持续暴露于生殖危害中。需要基于原始数据收集和仔细监测进行进一步的病因学研究以证实这些结果。
