What do we know today about welding-fume effects on the respiratory system?

The purpose of this review of the last ten years' publications was to show our nresent knowledge ahout welding-fume effects on the respiratory system. Welding generates particles and gases which are characteristic for the method used and the material welded. Various investigations to determine if respiratory system diseases occur more often in welders than in others not exposed have yielded diverging results. One explanation of this may be that the exposure of welders in the various studies may not be directly comparable and the majority of authors did not take into consideration the impact of other conditions of the working environment. This review represents all known respiratory symptoms, like siderosis, chronic bronchitis, fibrosis of lung, asthma, lung cancer and diseases of the upper respiratory tract, which can occur in welders. Furthermore are given the legal base for declaration of these diseases as an occupational disease and the fitness rules for welders in GDR.