In most industrialized countries large numbers of workers are exposed to welding fumes. Although the general pattern of welders' health may not significantly differ from that of workers in other dusty industrial occupations which demonstrate elevated incidence of respiratory tract diseases with long latency periods, the extremely wide range of substances at potentially high concentrations produ...

Work-related asthma has been documented in workers employed in the primary aluminium industry and in the production of aluminium salts. The role of aluminium in the development of occupational asthma has, however, never been convincingly substantiated. We investigated a subject who experienced asthmatic reactions related to manual metal arc welding on aluminium. Challenge exposure to aluminium ...

Tungsten inert gas welding (TIG) represents one of the most widely used metal joining processes in industry. Its propensity to generate a greater portion of welding fume particles at the nanoscale poses a potential occupational health hazard for workers. However, current literature lacks comprehensive characterization of TIG welding fume particles. Even less is known about welding fumes generat...

This article presents a study on the evaluation of the workload imposed to workers of two sectors of a flexible packaging manufacturer that operates in three shifts. The workers are allocated in one of the shifts (morning, evening and night shifts) without evaluation of their chronotype and/or social needs. The Imprint sector has a more dynamic work, which is done only by man due to the effort ...

About one million workers worldwide are engaged in welding processes, where they are exposed to a complex mixture of inhalable pollutants. Adverse effects in the respiratory system can occur due to this occupational exposure. Currently, legislative limits only exist for inhalable and alveolar particles. However, epidemiologic and toxicologic studies show that especially ultrafine particles (UFP...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Exposures to total particulate matter (TP) and manganese (Mn) received by workers during welding and allied hot processes were analyzed to assess the sources and magnitudes of variability. METHODS Compilation of data from several countries identified 2065 TP and 697 Mn measurements for analysis. Linear mixed models were used to determine fixed effects due to different countrie...

welding is one of the key components of numerous manufacturing industries, which has potential physical and chemical health hazards. many components of welding fumes can potentially affect the lung function. this study investigates the effects of welding fumes on lung function and respiratory symptoms among welders of an automobile manufacturing plant in iran. this historical cohort study asses...

A recent $1 million award by an Illinois jury to a welder was the first plaintiff victory in a welding rod failure-to-warn suit and many similar cases are expected to follow. In the case of Elam v. AO Smith et. al., the jury concluded that the manganese in welding fumes caused a 65-year old worker to develop a neurological disorder similar to Parkinson’s disease (i.e., Manganism). Since there a...

BACKGROUND Spot welding is a type of resistance welding in which pieces of metals are pressed together and an electric current is passed through them. Spot welders are at risk of contact with some potentially hazardous agents but there are few studies about the respiratory effects of spot welding. AIMS Our objective was to study lung function and respiratory symptoms among spot welders and of...

Many of the epidemiology studies performed are difficult to compare because of differences in worker populations, industrial settings, welding techniques, duration of exposure, and other occupational exposures besides welding fumes. Some studies were conducted in carefully controlled work environments, others during actual workplace conditions, and some in laboratories. Epidemiology studies hav...