Bertram Jens, Brand Peter, Schettgen Thomas, Lenz Klaus, Purrio Ellwyn, Reisgen Uwe, Kraus Thomas
1.Institute for Occupational Medicine and Social Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30 D-52074, Aachen, Germany
1.Institute for Occupational Medicine and Social Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30 D-52074, Aachen, Germany.
Ann Occup Hyg. 2015 May;59(4):467-80. doi: 10.1093/annhyg/meu104. Epub 2014 Dec 15.
The uptake and elimination of metals from welding fumes is currently not fully understood. In the Aachen Workplace Simulation Laboratory (AWSL) it is possible to investigate the impact of welding fumes on human subjects under controlled exposure conditions. In this study, the uptake and elimination of chromium or chromium (VI) respectively as well as nickel was studied in subjects after exposure to the emissions of a manual metal arc welding process using low or high alloyed steel.
In this present study 12 healthy male non-smokers, who never worked as welders before, were exposed for 6h to welding fumes of a manual metal arc welding process. In a three-fold crossover study design, subjects were exposed in randomized order to either clean air, emissions from welding low alloyed steel, and emissions from welding high alloyed steel. Particle mass concentration of the exposure aerosol was 2.5mg m(-3). The content of chromium and nickel in the air was determined by analysing air filter samples on a high emission scenario. Urine analysis for chromium and nickel was performed before and after exposure using methods of human biomonitoring.
There were significantly elevated chromium levels after exposure to welding fumes from high alloyed steel compared to urinary chromium levels before exposure to high alloyed welding fumes, as well as compared to the other exposure scenarios. The mean values increased from 0.27 µg l(-1) to 18.62 µg l(-1). The results were in good agreement with already existing correlations between external and internal exposure (German exposure equivalent for carcinogenic working materials EKA). The variability of urinary chromium levels was high. For urinary nickel no significant changes could be detected at all.
Six-hour exposure to 2.5mg m(-3) high alloyed manual metal arc welding fumes lead to elevated urinary chromium levels far higher (7.11-34.16 µg l(-1)) than the German biological exposure reference value (BAR) of 0.6 µg l(-1) directly after exposure. On the other hand mean urinary nickel concentrations slightly increased, but did not exceed background levels due to lower bioavailability. We could underline with our single exposure experiment that a welding work related chromium exposure can be measured immediately after the work shift, while the same is not possible for nickel exposure due to lower nickel bioavailability. The data provide useful information for real occupational welding work places.
目前对焊接烟尘中金属的吸收和排出情况尚未完全了解。在亚琛工作场所模拟实验室（AWSL），可以在受控暴露条件下研究焊接烟尘对人体的影响。在本研究中，对使用低合金钢或高合金钢的手工金属弧焊工艺排放物暴露后的受试者体内铬或六价铬以及镍的吸收和排出情况进行了研究。
在本研究中，12名此前从未从事过焊工工作的健康男性非吸烟者暴露于手工金属弧焊工艺的焊接烟尘中6小时。在一项三交叉研究设计中，受试者按随机顺序暴露于清洁空气、低合金钢焊接排放物和高合金钢焊接排放物中。暴露气溶胶的颗粒物质量浓度为2.5mg/m³。通过分析高排放场景下的空气过滤器样本确定空气中铬和镍的含量。使用人体生物监测方法在暴露前后对尿液中的铬和镍进行分析。
与暴露于高合金钢焊接烟尘之前的尿铬水平相比，以及与其他暴露场景相比，暴露于高合金钢焊接烟尘后铬水平显著升高。平均值从0.27μg/L增加到18.62μg/L。结果与外部和内部暴露之间已有的相关性（德国致癌工作材料暴露当量EKA）高度一致。尿铬水平的变异性很高。对于尿镍，根本未检测到显著变化。
暴露于2.5mg/m³的高合金钢手工金属弧焊烟尘6小时会导致尿铬水平升高，远高于暴露后德国生物暴露参考值（BAR）0.6μg/L（7.11 - 34.16μg/L）。另一方面，尿镍平均浓度略有增加，但由于生物利用度较低未超过背景水平。通过我们的单次暴露实验可以强调，与焊接工作相关的铬暴露在工作班次结束后可立即检测到，而由于镍的生物利用度较低，镍暴露则无法如此。这些数据为实际职业焊接工作场所提供了有用信息。
