Exposure to volatile organic compounds and kidney dysfunction in thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) workers

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials Vol. 178; no. 1; pp. 934 - 940
• Main Authors: Chang, Ta-Yuan, Huang, Kuei-Hung, Liu, Chiu-Shong, Shie, Ruei-Hao, Chao, Keh-Ping, Hsu, Wen-Hsin, Bao, Bo-Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier B.V 15.06.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Age Factors; Applied sciences; Arrays; Creatinine - blood; Cross-Sectional Studies; Electronics; Ethyl alcohol; Exact sciences and technology; Exposure assessment; Female; Glycols; Humans; Kidney Diseases - chemically induced; Kidney Diseases - epidemiology; Kidney dysfunction; Kidney Function Tests; Kidneys; Liquid crystal displays; Liquid Crystals; Logistic Models; Male; Microcomputers; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational Exposure - analysis; Odds Ratio; Organic Chemicals - adverse effects; Organic Chemicals - analysis; Pollution; Propylene; Risk; Risk Factors; Sex Factors; TFT-LCD workers; Uric Acid - blood; Volatile organic compounds; Young Adult; TFT-LCD workers; OR; PGME; VOC; QA; Volatile organic compounds; HDL; TFT-LCD; QC; LDL; PGMEA; Kidney dysfunction; 95% CI; Exposure assessment; BMI; Work place; Volatile organic compound; Manufacturing; Organic compounds; Thin film
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.02.027

Many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted during the manufacturing of thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs), exposure to some of which has been reported to be associated with kidney dysfunction, but whether such an effect exists in TFT-LCD industry workers is unknown. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between exposure to VOCs and kidney dysfunction among TFT-LCD workers. The results showed that ethanol (1811.0 ± 1740.4 ppb), acetone (669.0 ± 561.0 ppb), isopropyl alcohol (187.0 ± 205.3 ppb) and propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (PGMEA) (102.9 ± 102.0 ppb) were the four dominant VOCs present in the workplace. The 63 array workers studied had a risk of kidney dysfunction 3.21-fold and 3.84-fold that of 61 cell workers and 18 module workers, respectively. Workers cumulatively exposed to a total level of isopropyl alcohol, PGMEA and propylene glycol monomethyl ether ≥ 324 ppb-year had a significantly higher risk of kidney dysfunction (adjusted OR = 3.41, 95% CI = 1.14–10.17) compared with those exposed to <25 ppb-year after adjustment for potential confounding factors. These findings indicated that array workers might be the group at greatest risk of kidney dysfunction within the TFT-LCD industry, and cumulative exposure to specific VOCs might be associated with kidney dysfunction.