Exposure scenarios semiconductor industry examples

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)/semiconductor industry collaboration was established to gain practical experience in generating exposure scenarios (ESs) that would be integral elements of the chemical safety report (CSR).

The examples are related to industrial use of three substances in production of semiconductor devices (“microchips”).

Project participants strove to achieve a high level of understanding of semiconductor (SC) processes through information sharing and a site visit to observe actual semiconductor manufacturing operations. Although not all the details were required or utilised, it established a common understanding of the SC industry to allow estimation of exposure to environment and workers and to take into account risk management measures (RMM) typically used.

The three examples of ES identify how each substance is used, the operational conditions (OC) and RMM in place and any potential exposures resulting to the environment and workers. Those factors, along with specific Predicted No-Effects-Concentration for environment (PNEC) and Derived No–effect-Level for human health (DNEL) of the substances are required to assess risk and to calculate the Risk Characterisation Ratio (RCR).

In these examples, the waste stage has not yet been addressed since ECHA’s draft guidance on exposure assessment for the waste life stage is still under consultation with ECHA’s Committees and the EU Member States.

ECHA 2010