Spirometric abnormalities among welders.

A group of manual welders (N = 57) engaged in gas welding joint faces of moulded brasswares, age group 13-60 years (mean: 29.2 +/- 1.37 years), having a mean exposure period of 12.4 +/- 1.12 years (range: 1-35 years) were subjected to spirometry to evaluate the prevalence of spirometric abnormalities. The findings were compared with those obtained from a reference group (N = 131) (mean age: 31.2 +/- 1.35 years) engaged in nonwelding jobs such as packing, labelling, and transportation of the finished brassware articles. The welders showed a significantly higher prevalence of respiratory impairment (28.0%) than that observed among the unexposed controls (6.1%) (P less than 0.001), as a result of exposure to welding gases which comprised fine particles of lead, zinc, chromium, and manganese. This occurred despite the lower concentration of the pollutants at the work place. In the exposed group, the smoking welders showed a prevalence of respiratory impairment significantly higher than that observed in the nonsmoking welders (40.0 vs 18.7%) (P less than 0.10). A similar trend was observed in the control group indicating that smoking had a deteriorating effect on spirometric tests. The results of the pulmonary function tests showed a predominantly restrictive type of pulmonary impairment (12.3%) followed by a mixed ventilatory defect (8.7%) among the welders. The effect of age on pulmonary impairment was not discernible either in the exposed or unexposed group. The analysis of data in relation to duration of exposure showed significant correlation between the prevalence of respiratory abnormalities and length of exposure. Welders exposed for over 10 years showed a prevalence of respiratory abnormalities significantly higher than those exposed for less than 10 years (44.4 vs 13.3%) (P less than 0.01) thereby showing that occupational exposure to welding fumes resulted in increased prevalence of pulmonary impairment in the welders. Smoking also had a contributory role thereby suggesting an interaction between smoking and welding exposure on the prevalence of pulmonary impairment in the welders engaged in brassware industries.