Urinary metabolites of solvent exposure among workers in electronic factories in Batam, Indonesia

摘要

Numerous chemicals have been used in the manufacturing processes in the electronics industry. As a result, workers have been exposed to a variety of hazardous chemicals, including organic solvents. Concerns about the possibility of excess cancer risks among workers in semiconductor manufacturing have been expressed for many years; however, results from several large industry-based epidemiological studies were inconsistent, partially due to the lack of quantitative exposure measurement for individual workers. Although a few studies reported that the exposures of individual chemicals in the electronics industry were much lower than occupational exposure limits, epidemiological studies conducted in this industry have shown that long-term exposure to low levels of chemicals may still adversely affect such health outcomes as spontaneous abortion, irregular menstrual cycles, endocrine disruption and kidney dysfunction. Additionally, due to rapid changes in this industry, manufacturing processes and their associated hazards may change quickly every few years. Moreover, most electronics manufacturing factories are located in developing countries with less industrial hygiene support and resources. All these factors make "frequent hazard assessments necessary, but difficult to conduct. We are currently conducting a biomonitoring pilot project in Batam, Indonesia to investigate if urinary metabolites of solvents known to be used in factories in the area would be higher in exposed workers than in controls. We will recruit 45 exposed and 10 un-exposed workers and collect urine samples before and after the workweek in April 2019. Urine samples will be analyzed for metabolites of selected solvents and for untargeted metabolomics profiling. Analyses are anticipated to be finished in July 2019. The results of this work can help us identify biomarkers to be used to evaluate the exposure and potentially the effectiveness of control strategies, as well as to study potential adverse health effects related to the exposure.