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

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. Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.