Welding processes that generate fumes containing toxic metals, such as hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), manganese (Mn), and nickel (Ni), have been implicated in lung injury, inflammation, and lung tumor promotion in animal models. While federal regulations have reduced permissible worker exposure limits to Cr(VI), this is not always practical considering that welders may work in confined spaces an...

Welding fumes are common ambient air pollutants in manufacturing facilities, and have been shown to have deleterious effects on human health. An experimental effort is conducted to study the formation and composition of respirable fumes from a SMAW process. The responses examined are the fume particle size distribution (mean diameter) and formation rate (particle number and mass concentration)....

This study's aim was to assess the perceptions of welding apprentices concerning welding fumes being associated with respiratory and cardiovascular disorders and assess the implementation of risk communication as a primary prevention tool in the welding training process. This quasi-experimental, non-randomized study with before-and-after design was conducted with 84 welding apprentices in South...

Welding is an important process used in the iron based industries. About two percent of the working population is engaged in some type of welding. The procedure of welding is simple but its health implications are complex. Welding generates enormous amounts of gases and metal fumes. Depending on the substrate and welding type, the composition of resultant gases and fumes changes. Therefore, wel...

Welding is a major industrial process used for joining metals. Occupational exposure to welding fumes is a serious occupational health problem all over the world. The degree of risk to welder's health from fumes depends on composition, concentration, and the length of exposure. The aim of this study was to investigate workers' welding fume exposure levels in some industries in Jeddah, Saudi Ara...

Welding is a process during which fumes, gases, electromagnetic radiation and noise are emitted as by-products. Metal oxide particles are particularly hazardous components of welding fumes. Welding has been found to be associated with respiratory symptoms and our objective in the present study was to study the effects of welding on pulmonary function and serum oxidant-antioxidant status. Fifty-...

BACKGROUND This study aimed to develop an index that can rank welding workplace that associate well with possible health risk of welders. METHODS Welding Fumes Health Index (WFHI) were developed based on data from case studies conducted in Plant 1 and Plant 2. Personal sampling of welding fumes to assess the concentration of metal constituents along with series of lung function tests was cond...

The goals of this study were to examine acute lung damage and inflammation, as well as free radical production, caused by welding fumes of different chemical compositions and solubilities. The fumes were from a gas metal arc welding using a mild-steel (GMA-MS) or stainless-steel electrode (GMA-SS) and a manual metal arc welding using a stainless-steel electrode (MMA-SS), which was further separ...

Welders are at risk of being exposed to high concentrations of welding fumes and developing pneumoconiosis or other welding-fume exposure-related diseases. Among such diseases, manganism resulting from welding-fume exposure remains a controversial issue, as although the movement of manganese into specific brain regions has been established, the similar movement of manganese presented with other...

OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study were to evaluate manganese (Mn)-containing welding fumes' exposure, assess urinary Mn as a biomarker for Mn exposure and investigate the correlation of Mn in air, total fumes and urinary Mn with pulmonary function indices in 118 welders and 37 unexposed controls from two regions in Iran, Assaluyeh and Borujen. METHODS Air samples were collected on mixed...