title: Fertility history of currently employed male semiconductor workers.
abstract: Fertility among men working in semiconductor manufacturing during 1984-89 was assessed in a 1990-91 cross-sectional study of eight companies. Men working in wafer fabrication rooms (fabs) (n = 241, 165 births) were compared to men in nonfabrication (nonfab) jobs (n = 447, 300 births). Results showed that 17% of fab men and 14% of nonfab men reported ever trying for > or = 1 year to conceive [relative risk (RR) = 1.21, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.83-1.74]. Crude birth rates (births/1,000 person months) were similar [15 fab, 17 nonfab; crude fertility ratio (FR) = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.86-1.36], as were birth rates adjusted by Cox models for confounders (adjusted FR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.80-1.19, p = 0.79). Fab men who worked in furnace, thin-film, or ion implantation areas were more likely than nonfab men to report previous difficulty conceiving (25%, RR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.09-2.94), and their past fertility was lower (nine births/1,000 person months; crude FR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.40-1.02; adjusted FR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.50-1.09, p = 0.12). Problems included lack of contraception data and misclassification of fab subgroups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis 95616-8638, USA.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Samuels
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: McCurdy
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pocekay
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hammond
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Missell
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Schenker
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005298:Fertility; D006801:Humans; D015993:Life Tables; D008297:Male; D016272:Occupational Health; D012666:Semiconductors