Pulmonary functional impairment from years of arc welding

Journal Article · Sat Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989 · Am. J. Med.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9343(89)80484-X· OSTI ID:5595573

Kilburn, K H; Warshaw, R H

The adverse effects of arc welding on pulmonary function have been previously documented. However, in many of these studies, the effects of welding exposure and smoking were not separated. Also, some studies did not adjust for or ignored the effects of asbestosis on pulmonary function. We assessed the long-term effects of welding on pulmonary function in welders who had no evidence of asbestosis on chest radiographs, and adjusted each individual value for height, age, and years of cigarette smoking. The study consisted of 226 male construction welders who had never worked in shipyards. Forced vital capacity (FVC) and flows were measured by spirometry, chest radiographs were obtained and examined for evidence of asbestosis using, and thoracic gas volume (TGV) was determined by planimetry. The subjects were also administered an occupational and respiratory questionnaire. Data on workers with asbestosis (ILO profusion 1/0 or greater) and pleural abnormalities were excluded. The mean age for the 226 subjects without asbestosis was 45 years, mean height was 175.7 cm, and mean duration of welding was 21.3 years. Pulmonary function measurements are presented as mean percentage of predicted (pop) and adjusted for height, age, and years of smoking. In 151 current cigarette smokers, mean midflows and terminal flows were decreased, FEF25-75 to 93.2 pop and FEF75-85 to 91.2 pop, but FVC, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and TGV were normal. The 43 nonsmokers also had reductions in flows but normal FVC and TGV. Flows in both groups were significantly (p less than 0.05) below those of the referent group. The regression coefficient was -0.0031 for years of welding and FVC pop, -0.0035 for FEV1 pop, and -0.0080 for midflow pop (FEF25-75) (all significant at p less than 0.05), but the coefficient for FEF75-85 pop was not significant.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5595573
• Journal Information: Am. J. Med.; (United States), Journal Name: Am. J. Med.; (United States) Vol. 87:1; ISSN AJMEA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550900 -- Pathology
560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AEROSOLS
ARC WELDING
BODY
BRONCHITIS
COLLOIDS
DISEASES
DISPERSIONS
EPIDEMIOLOGY
FABRICATION
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
JOINING
LUNGS
MATHEMATICS
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
ORGANS
PERSONNEL
REGRESSION ANALYSIS
RESIDUES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
SENSITIVITY
SMOKES
SOLS
STATISTICS
TOBACCO SMOKES
WELDING