Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Topeliuksenkatu 41aA, 00250 Helsinki, Finland.
Crit Rev Toxicol. 2012 Nov;42(10):827-53. doi: 10.3109/10408444.2012.725027. Epub 2012 Sep 27.
Exposure to aluminum at work is widespread, and people are exposed to several species of aluminum, which differ markedly as to the kinetics and toxicity. Especially welding of aluminum is widely applied and continuously expanding. Inhalation of fine particles of sparsely soluble aluminum results in the retention of deposited particles in the lungs. From the lungs, aluminum is released to the blood and distributed to bones and the brain, and excreted to urine. Soluble aluminum compounds are not accumulated in the lungs. Neurotoxicity is the critical effect of exposure to sparsely soluble aluminum compounds. Studies on workers exposed to aluminum welding fumes have revealed disturbances of cognitive processes, memory and concentration, and changes in mood and EEG. Early pulmonary effects have been observed among aluminum powder-production workers using high-resolution computed tomography. The primary objective of aluminum biomonitoring (BM) is to help prevent the formation of aluminum burden in the lungs and thereby to prevent harmful accumulation of aluminum in target organs. BM of aluminum can be effectively used for this purpose in the production/use of aluminum powders, aluminum welding, as well as plasma cutting, grinding, polishing and thermal spraying of aluminum. BM of aluminum may also be similarly useful in the smelting of aluminum and probably in the production of corundum. BM can help identify exposed individuals and roughly quantitate transient exposure but cannot predict health effects in the production/use of soluble aluminum salts. For urinary aluminum (U-Al) we propose an action limit of 3 µmol/L, corrected to a relative density of 1.021, in a sample collected preshift after two days without occupational exposure, and without use of aluminum-containing drugs. This value corresponds roughly to 2.3 µmol/g creatinine. Compliance with this limit is expected to protect the worker against the critical effect of aluminum in exposure to sparsely soluble aluminum dusts, the cognitive function of the central nervous system. For serum aluminum (S-Al), we do not propose an action limit because S-Al is less sensitive as an indicator of aluminum load.
工作场所接触铝很普遍，人们会接触到多种铝，这些铝在动力学和毒性方面有明显差异。特别是铝的焊接应用广泛且不断扩大。吸入难溶性铝的细颗粒会导致沉积颗粒在肺部滞留。从肺部，铝被释放到血液中，并分布到骨骼和大脑中，并从尿液中排出。可溶性铝化合物不会在肺部蓄积。神经毒性是暴露于难溶性铝化合物的关键影响。对接触铝焊接烟尘的工人的研究表明，认知过程、记忆和注意力受到干扰，情绪和脑电图发生变化。使用高分辨率计算机断层扫描观察到铝粉生产工人出现早期肺部效应。铝生物监测（BM）的主要目的是帮助防止肺部铝负担的形成，从而防止铝在靶器官中的有害蓄积。在铝粉的生产/使用、铝焊接以及等离子切割、研磨、抛光和热喷涂中，铝 BM 可有效地用于此目的。铝 BM 也可能在铝冶炼中以及可能在刚玉生产中同样有用。BM 可以帮助识别接触者，并大致定量瞬时暴露，但不能预测可溶性铝盐生产/使用中的健康影响。对于尿铝（U-Al），我们建议在没有职业暴露且两天内未使用含铝药物的情况下，在班前收集的校正相对密度为 1.021 的样本中，将 3 µmol/L 作为行动限值。这个值大约相当于 2.3 µmol/g 肌酐。遵守这个限制预计可以保护工人免受难溶性铝尘暴露的关键影响，以及中枢神经系统的认知功能。对于血清铝（S-Al），我们不建议设定行动限值，因为 S-Al 作为铝负荷的指标不太敏感。
