Welding operations are rarely conducted in an air-conditioned room. However, a company would set its welding operations in an air-conditioned room to maintain the humidity level needed to reduce hydrogen cracks in the specimen being welded. This study intended to assess the exposure to metal elements in the welders' breathing zone and toenail samples. Heavy metal concentration was analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The lung function test was also conducted and analysed using statistical approaches. Chromium and manganese concentrations in the breathing zone exceeded the permissible exposure limit stipulated by Malaysian regulations. A similar trend was obtained in the concentration of heavy metals in the breathing zone air sampling and in the welders' toenails. Although there was no statistically significant decrease in the lung function of welders, it is suggested that exposure control through engineering and administrative approaches should be considered for workplace safety and health improvement.
Workers are exposed to a variety of heavy metal pollutants that are released into the environment as a consequence of workplace activities. This chemical pollutants are incorporated into the human by varies of routes entry and can then be stored and distributed in different tissues, consequently have a potential to lead an adverse health effects and/or diseases. As to minimize the impact, a control measures should be taken to avoid these effects and human biological marker is a very effective tool in the assessment of occupational exposure and potential related risk as the results is normally accurate and reproducible. Toenail is the ideal matrix for most common heavy metals due to its reliability and practicality compared to other biological samples as well as it is a non-invasive and this appears as a huge advantage of toenail as a biomarker. This paper reviews studies that measure the heavy metals concentration in toenail as non-invasive matrix which later may adapt in the investigation of metal fume emitted from welding process. The development of new methodology and modern analytical techniques has allowed the use of toenail as non-invasive approach. The presence of a heavy metal in this matrix reflects an exposure but the correlations between heavy metal levels in the toenail must be established to ensure that these levels are related to the total body burden. These findings suggest that further studies on interactions of these heavy metals in metal fumes utilizing toenail biomarker endpoints are highly warranted especially among welders.
Heavy metals are a group of metals and metalloids that normally present naturally, released into the environment by both natural and anthropogenic sources. These are toxic in any state for humans and animals even at low concentration [1]. Most of the non-biodegradable elements are classified as human carcinogenic (known or probable) according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) who have a tendency to accumulate in a living organism and may cause adverse health effects either in the long term or continuous exposure [2]. In recent years,
This study is to assess the health risk of heavy metal in welding fumes that may affect the human respiratory system. It is imperative to evaluate the current condition in the automotive industry in Malaysia, the welders exposed to welding fumes via inhalation before any risk control implemented. In this study, three manufacturing industries associated with automotive production were selected for health risk assessment from hazardous chemical exposure among welders. The developed method by Malaysian Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and EPA inhalation risk assessment model were adopted in this study. The result indicates that exposure to heavy metals in welding fumes was found significantly higher for both occupational hazard risk and EPA inhalation risk assessment method at the range of 82% to 89% in which exceeded the permissible exposure limit (PELs). The finding of the corrective measures at all selected plants should be implemented to reduce heavy metal fumes in welding areas, thus lesser the occupational risk among automotive industry welders.
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