AWS EWH-14:2011

This literature review was prepared under contract to the American Welding Society for its Safety and Health Committee. The review deals with studies of the health effects of fumes, gases, radiation, and noise generated during various welding processes. Section 1 summarizes recent studies of occupational exposures, Section 2 contains information related to human health effects, and Section 3 discusses the effects of exposures in animals and cell cultures
Scope : The health of workers in the welding environment is a major concern of the American Welding Society. To stay abreast of this subject, the health literature is periodically reviewed and published in the report Effects of Welding on Health. Thirteen volumes have been published to date; the first covered data published before 1978, while the remainder covered 2- to 3-year periods between 1978 and December 2002. The current report includes information published between January 2003 and December 2005. In addition, an appendix has been added with short summaries of articles on the effects of welding on human health published between 2006 and 2009. This volume should be read in conjunction with previous volumes for a comprehensive treatment of the literature on the Effects of Welding on Health. Included in Section 1 of this volume are studies of the characteristics of welding emissions that may have an impact on the control technologies necessary to protect the welder. In keeping with previous volumes, health reports and epidemiological studies of humans are discussed in Section 2 and organized according to the affected organ system. Research studies in animals and cell cultures are discussed in Section 3. Many of the studies on the effects of welding on health published during the current report period focused on matters that have been explored in the older literature. The effects of welding on the respiratory tract continue to be examined and attention has been paid to the elevated incidence of pneumonia among active welders. Studies in animals suggest that SMAW of stainless steel may be responsible for this effect and that the soluble chromium component of SMAW fumes plays an important role in the suppression of the pulmonary defense responses against bacterial infection. The neurological effects of aluminum and manganese continue to receive attention. Much of the research has focused on whether exposure to manganese in welding fumes can cause Parkinsonâ??s disease or a Parkinsonâ??s disease-like syndrome(parkinsonism). Several large epidemiologic studies published during this report period addressed this question and most indicate that welders do not have an elevated risk for this condition.