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Effect of welding fumes on the cardiovascular system: a six-year longitudinal study
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether low-to-moderate exposure to welding fumes is associated with adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. METHODS: To test this, we performed a longitudinal analysis of 78 mild steel welders and 96 controls; these subjects were examined twice, six years ap...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7801138/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32725248 http://dx.doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3908 |
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author | Taj, Tahir Gliga, Anda R Hedmer, Maria Wahlberg, Karin Assarsson, Eva Lundh, Thomas Tinnerberg, Håkan Albin, Maria Broberg, Karin |
author_facet | Taj, Tahir Gliga, Anda R Hedmer, Maria Wahlberg, Karin Assarsson, Eva Lundh, Thomas Tinnerberg, Håkan Albin, Maria Broberg, Karin |
author_sort | Taj, Tahir |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether low-to-moderate exposure to welding fumes is associated with adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. METHODS: To test this, we performed a longitudinal analysis of 78 mild steel welders and 96 controls; these subjects were examined twice, six years apart (ie, timepoints 1 and 2). All subjects (male and non-smoking at recruitment) completed questionnaires describing their health, work history, and lifestyle. We measured their blood pressure, endothelial function (by EndoPAT), and risk markers for cardiovascular disease [low-density lioprotein (LDL), homocysteine, C-reactive protein]. Exposure to welding fumes was assessed from the responses to questionnaires and measurements of respirable dust in their breathing zones adjusted for use of respiratory protection equipment. Linear mixed-effect regression models were used for the longitudinal analysis. RESULTS: Median respirable dust concentrations, adjusted for respirable protection, of the welders were 0.7 (5–95 percentile range 0.2–4.2) and 0.5 (0.1–1.9) mg/m(3) at timepoints 1 and 2, respectively. Over the six-year period, welders showed a statistically significant increase in systolic [5.11 mm Hg, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.92–8.31] and diastolic (3.12 mm Hg, 95% CI 0.74–5.5) blood pressure compared with controls (multi-variable adjusted mixed effect models). Diastolic blood pressure increased non-significantly by 0.22 mm Hg (95% CI -0.02–0.45) with every additional year of welding work. No consistent significant associations were found between exposure and endothelial function, LDL, homocysteine, or C-reactive protein. CONCLUSION: Exposure to welding fumes at low-to-moderate levels is associated with increased blood pressure, suggesting that reducing the occupational exposure limit (2.5 mg/m(3) for inorganic respirable dust in Sweden) is needed to protect cardiovascular health of workers. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7801138 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-78011382021-01-13 Effect of welding fumes on the cardiovascular system: a six-year longitudinal study Taj, Tahir Gliga, Anda R Hedmer, Maria Wahlberg, Karin Assarsson, Eva Lundh, Thomas Tinnerberg, Håkan Albin, Maria Broberg, Karin Scand J Work Environ Health Original Article OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether low-to-moderate exposure to welding fumes is associated with adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. METHODS: To test this, we performed a longitudinal analysis of 78 mild steel welders and 96 controls; these subjects were examined twice, six years apart (ie, timepoints 1 and 2). All subjects (male and non-smoking at recruitment) completed questionnaires describing their health, work history, and lifestyle. We measured their blood pressure, endothelial function (by EndoPAT), and risk markers for cardiovascular disease [low-density lioprotein (LDL), homocysteine, C-reactive protein]. Exposure to welding fumes was assessed from the responses to questionnaires and measurements of respirable dust in their breathing zones adjusted for use of respiratory protection equipment. Linear mixed-effect regression models were used for the longitudinal analysis. RESULTS: Median respirable dust concentrations, adjusted for respirable protection, of the welders were 0.7 (5–95 percentile range 0.2–4.2) and 0.5 (0.1–1.9) mg/m(3) at timepoints 1 and 2, respectively. Over the six-year period, welders showed a statistically significant increase in systolic [5.11 mm Hg, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.92–8.31] and diastolic (3.12 mm Hg, 95% CI 0.74–5.5) blood pressure compared with controls (multi-variable adjusted mixed effect models). Diastolic blood pressure increased non-significantly by 0.22 mm Hg (95% CI -0.02–0.45) with every additional year of welding work. No consistent significant associations were found between exposure and endothelial function, LDL, homocysteine, or C-reactive protein. CONCLUSION: Exposure to welding fumes at low-to-moderate levels is associated with increased blood pressure, suggesting that reducing the occupational exposure limit (2.5 mg/m(3) for inorganic respirable dust in Sweden) is needed to protect cardiovascular health of workers. Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health 2021-01-01 2020-12-16 /pmc/articles/PMC7801138/ /pubmed/32725248 http://dx.doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3908 Text en Copyright: © Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. |
spellingShingle | Original Article Taj, Tahir Gliga, Anda R Hedmer, Maria Wahlberg, Karin Assarsson, Eva Lundh, Thomas Tinnerberg, Håkan Albin, Maria Broberg, Karin Effect of welding fumes on the cardiovascular system: a six-year longitudinal study |
title | Effect of welding fumes on the cardiovascular system: a six-year longitudinal study |
title_full | Effect of welding fumes on the cardiovascular system: a six-year longitudinal study |
title_fullStr | Effect of welding fumes on the cardiovascular system: a six-year longitudinal study |
title_full_unstemmed | Effect of welding fumes on the cardiovascular system: a six-year longitudinal study |
title_short | Effect of welding fumes on the cardiovascular system: a six-year longitudinal study |
title_sort | effect of welding fumes on the cardiovascular system: a six-year longitudinal study |
topic | Original Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7801138/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32725248 http://dx.doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3908 |
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