Dermatitis in a printed-circuit board manufacturing facility

Dermatitis complaints are frequently encountered among workers in the microelectronics industry and have been associated with a variety of physical, chemical and psychosocial causes. Employees working in the silk-screening and kiln-drying areas of a printed-circuit board manufacturer complained of recurrent itching and rashes. This case report describes those symptoms and the results of a brief survey of the affected employees, which provided useful data regarding the likely aetiology. A brief epidemiological survey instrument was used to gain information regarding the pattern, duration and frequency of employee symptoms. Data from the survey were used to identify seasonal variations in symptoms that correlated with specific environmental factors in the plant. A brief epidemiological investigation using a self-reported symptom survey was an efficient tool to catalogue the character, pattern, duration and frequency of complaints that correlated with specific environmental factors in the plant (temperature and low humidity), which were likely causes of the outbreak.