A model for assessing occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields in fabrication rooms in the semiconductor health study
✍ Scribed by Sassan Abdollahzadeh; S. Hammond Katharine; Marc B. Schenker
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2010
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 760 KB
- Volume
- 28
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0271-3586
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A model was created to assess occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) among semiconductor fabrication-room (fab) workers. This model was based on the assumption that each subject's exposure arose from being near identifiable ELF-MF sources or being in areas with high ELF-MF levels. TO assess ELF-MF exposures, the model superimposed subjects' time-activity patterns (patterns of how and where they spent their time) with measurements of magnetic-field levels from devices and work areas. This model, which was validated by personal dosimetry on 192 persons in three fabs, predicted actual time-weighted average exposures with a correlation coefficient of 0.62. The inability of the model to predict individual exposures more accurately was attributed to unforeseen sources of elevated ELF-MF (transformers, distribution panels, sources in adjacent rooms) or to errors in subjects' judgments of time spent near devices. These unpredictable errors are intrinsic to the method used to estimate exposure.