Health effects of manganese exposures for welders in Qingdao City, China.

OBJECTIVES To document if manganese from welding causes health effects including neurological symptoms associated with manganese exposure. MATERIAL AND METHODS An anonymous questionnaire survey for a total of 505 welders at 3 welding facilities in Qingdao City, China was administered and analyzed. RESULTS Numerous symptoms were reported by the welders including difficulty with eyes for 43% of them, sore throat for 30% of them, and tremors were reported by over 18% of them. Tremors were associated with longer periods of work as a welder and correlated with the relative cleanliness at the 3 different facilities. Tremors did not correlate with smoking. CONCLUSIONS Manganese-exposed welders reported a variety of symptoms related to work and showed neurological disturbances that correlated with amount of exposure. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(2):241-247.