My understanding is that photoresists are actually some of the most toxic chemicals in the process, and their heating/irradiation makes them especially dangerous.

https://en.hesperian.org/hhg/Workers%27_Guide_to_Health_and_...

The context of my comment was in response to the parent saying they've phased out/changed many of the worst stuff in the photo resist side and so I said there is still pretty bad stuff on the etch side and then you commented that there are worse chemicals on the photo resist side. We're in a weird circular argument.

Point is - there are lots of bad chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing, even today.

This is exactly why the cost basis for fabs in the US got less and less competitive over time compared to countries with laxer regulation.

Same thing for mining