Comments
Occupational asthma in welders exposed to nickel and chromium in stainless steel fume has been reported. [Malo] A meta-analysis showed a 26% excess of lung cancer in welders with no difference between mild steel welders and stainless steel welders. [PMID: 16539169] "The current study found welding to be among the top-five exposures responsible for WRA [work-related asthma]. Nevertheless, data from South Africa has been divergent, and welding was not identified as a cause among 195 cases of WRA. Welding was, however, implicated as the most common cause of RADS. . . . These findings are suggestive of repeated irritation as a biological mechanism for welding-related WRA." [PMID 21407099] Welders are at risk for chronic bronchitis. Workers exposed to chromates are at risk for skin ulcerations and allergic contact dermatitis.