Institute of Environmental Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taiwan.
Institute of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health, Ministry of Labor in Taiwan, Taiwan.
Ind Health. 2018 Jul 27;56(4):356-363. doi: 10.2486/indhealth.2017-0197. Epub 2018 Apr 7.
We investigate exposure to welding fume metals in pipeline construction, which are responsible for severe respiratory problems. We analyzed air samples obtained using size-fractioning cascade impactors that were attached to the welders performing shielded metal and gas tungsten arc welding outdoors. Iron, aluminum, zinc, chromium, manganese, copper, nickel, and lead concentrations in the water-soluble (WS) and water-insoluble (WI) portions were determined separately, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The mass-size distribution of welding fume matches a log-normal distribution with two modes. The metal concentrations in the welding fume were ranked as follows: Fe>Al>Zn>Cr>Mn>Ni>Cu>Pb. In the WS portion, the capacities of metals dissolving in water are correlated with the metal species but particle sizes. Particularly, Zn, Mn, and Pb exhibit relatively higher capacities than Cu, Cr, Al, Fe, and Ni. Exposure of the gas-exchange region of the lungs to WS metals were in the range of 4.9% to 34.6% of the corresponding metals in air by considering the particle-size selection in lungs, metal composition by particle size, and the capacities of each metal dissolving in water.
我们研究了管道建设中焊接烟尘金属的暴露情况，这些金属会导致严重的呼吸道问题。我们分析了附着在户外进行屏蔽金属电弧焊和钨极气体保护电弧焊的焊工身上的分级冲击器采集的空气样本。使用电感耦合等离子体质谱法分别测定了水溶性（WS）和水不溶性（WI）部分中铁、铝、锌、铬、锰、铜、镍和铅的浓度。焊接烟尘的质量-尺寸分布符合对数正态分布，有两个模态。焊接烟尘中的金属浓度排名如下：Fe>Al>Zn>Cr>Mn>Ni>Cu>Pb。在 WS 部分，金属在水中的溶解能力与金属种类和粒径有关。特别是 Zn、Mn 和 Pb 的溶解能力相对高于 Cu、Cr、Al、Fe 和 Ni。考虑到肺部的颗粒选择、粒径大小的金属组成以及每种金属在水中的溶解能力，肺部气体交换区接触 WS 金属的程度在空气中相应金属的 4.9%到 34.6%之间。
