The Health of Welders in Naval Dockyards: proportional mortality study of welders and two control groups

McMillan, Grant; Pethybridge, R. J.

doi:10.1093/occmed/33.2.75

Cited by 20 publications

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“…Their SMR value (0.89) was lower than welders had experienced in Germany (SMR=1.09) 4) , Norway (SIR=1.13) 21) and Sweden (RR=1.37) 22) , but similar to that in France (SMR=0.93) 19) . Higher lung cancer risk was found among welders in other studies [16][17][18][19] . Sjögren, et al 17) concluded in a meta-analysis that exposure to stainless steel welding fume leads to a higher risk of lung cancer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 52%

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Mortality among Former Shipbreaking Workers—A 13‐Year Retrospective Follow‐up Study in Taiwan

Liu

Yang

et al. 2003

Journal of Occupational Health

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Mortality among Former Shipbreaking Workers – A 13‐Year retrospective Follow‐up Study in Taiwan: Yi‐Kuen Liu, et al. Institute of Environmental Health, National Taiwan University College of Public Health, Taiwan—This study examined the mortality among shipbreaking workers from 1985 to 1997, after the shipbreaking industry was banned in 1985–1986. The study cohort consisted of men including 2,850 flame cutters, 871 lifters, 240 oddjobbers and 225 other workers registered in 1985 at Kaohsiung Shipbreaking Workers Union. Mortality (n=336) data examined were obtained from the Vital Statistics Registry from January 1985 to December 1997. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and logistic regression were used to estimate the risk of mortality from neoplasms, injuries and other causes. Compared to the local reference population, the deaths that were significantly higher than the expected numbers among all workers included deaths from all cumulative causes (SMR=1.11, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.00–1.23), and deaths from external causes of injury and poisoning (SMR=1.75, 95% CI =1.47–2.09). Flame cutters in the youngest group, on the other hand, had very significant excess deaths from nasopharynx neoplasm (SMR=5.2, 95% CI=1.7–16.2) and pleural neoplasm (SMR=104.1, 95% CI=14.0– 739.0). Based on logistic regression analysis controlling for age, lifters was about 5.1 more likely times than flame cutters to die from accidental falls. This study suggests that former shipbreaking workers are more likely to be at higher risk of injuries and the young flame cutters are at higher risk from neoplasms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 52%

“…Shipyard work and arc welding exposure have been considered to be contributing factors in increased risk of respiratory symptoms and mortality [16][17][18][19] . To the best of the authors' knowledge, there are few investigations on the health effects experienced by shipbreaking workers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mortality among Former Shipbreaking Workers—A 13‐Year Retrospective Follow‐up Study in Taiwan

Liu

Yang

et al. 2003

Journal of Occupational Health

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“…Human studies related to welding fume exposure and immune function. Author Finding Avashia et al (2007) Fatal pneumonia case in male metalworkers in Texas Beaumont and Weiss (1980) Excess mortality from pneumonia with welding fume exposure Borska et al (2003) Alterations of systemic immunologic proteins Boshnakova et al (1989) Suppression of T-and B-lymphocyte immune system Coggon et al (1994) Pneumococcal and unspecified lobar pneumonia in metal workers Comhair and Erzurum (2002) Welding fume exposure associated with systemic inflammation and/or oxidative stress du Plessis et al (2010) Welding fume exposure associated with systemic inflammation and/or oxidative stress Fang et al (2009) Welding fume exposure associated with systemic inflammation and/or oxidative stress Registrar General (1958,1971,1981) Welders have increased mortality from pneumonia Han et al (2005) Welding fume exposure associated with systemic inflammation and/or oxidative stress Hanovcova et al (1998) Alterations of systemic immunologic proteins Hoffmaster et al (2004) Non-fatal case of pneumonia in a male metalworker in Louisiana Kim et al (2005) Welding fume exposure associated with acute systemic inflammation and/or oxidative stress McMillan and Pethybridge (1983) Mortality from pneumonia with welding fume exposure Milham (1983) Mortality from pneumonia with welding fume exposure Miller et al (1997) Fatal pneumonia case of two male metalworkers in Louisiana Nakata et al (2006) Inverse relationship between blood manganese levels and lymphocyte populations Newhouse et al (1985) Mortality from pneumonia with welding fume exposure Nielsen et al (1993) Alterations of systemic immunologic proteins Palmer et al (2003) Inhalation of metal fumes renders the worker susceptible to infectious pneumonia Palmer et al (2006) Chronic metal fume exposure impairs lung defenses Polednak (1981) Mortality from pneumonia with welding fume exposure Puntoni et al (1979) Mortality from pneumonia with welding fume exposure Tuschl et al (1997) Welding fume reduced the cytotoxic activity of lymphokine-activated killer cells functionality of immune competent cells was associated with altered immune-related cytokine and antibody production as well as impaired resolution...…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since a similar mortality pattern was found in other metal fume-exposed workers such as molders and coremakers, Coggon et al concluded that the primary causative agent could be the metallic fume components or possibly O 3 or NO. Studies from the US associating increased mortality from pneumonia due to welding fume exposure are few, but most support an increased risk in welders of pneumonias other than bronchopneumonia (Puntoni et al, 1979;Beaumont and Weiss, 1980;Polednak, 1981;McMillan and Pethybridge, 1983;Milham, 1983;Newhouse et al, 1985).…”

Section: Human Immunotoxicity Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunotoxicology of arc welding fume: Worker and experimental animal studies

Zeidler-Erdely

Erdely

Antonini

2012

Journal of Immunotoxicology

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“…When mortality from pleural mesothelioma was used as an indicator of asbestos exposure, 2 studies among shipyard welders showed high relative risks (41,42,69). However, such excesses were found among nonshipyard welders in 2 Swedish studies (49, 50), in the German study of stainless steel welders (57), and in the European study (SMR >5.00, observed 5) (55).…”

Section: Asbestos Exposurementioning

confidence: 99%

A meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies of lung cancer in welders

Jj¹

1997

Scand J Work Environ Health

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Original articles Scand J Work En viron Health 1997;23: 104-13 A meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies of lung cancer in welders Objective A meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies was carried out on lung cancer risk among shipyard, mild steel, and stainless steel welders, and the role of asbestos exposure and smoking was considered. Methods The meta-analysis consisted of calculating combined relative risks (RR) and their variances through a logarithm transformation of published RR values and a weighing using the inverted variance of each RR. Results The literature provided 18 case-referent and 31 cohort studies. The combined RR values were 1.38[observed 1028,95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.29-1.481 for "all or unspecified welding categories", 1.30 (observed 305, 95% CI 1.14-1.48) for shipyard welders, and 1.35 (observed 173, 95% CI 1.15-1.58) for nonshipyard welders. Similar combined RR values (RR) were observed for mild steel welders (combined RR 1.50, observed 137, 95% CI 1.18-1.91) and stainless steel welders (combined RR 1.50 observed 114, 95% CI 1.10-2.05). No significant heterogeneity was discerned between studies of any welding or study design category. A marked healthy worker effect may also lead to an underestimation of the standardized mortality ratio for lung cancer among stainless steel welders. Furthermore, welders of any category are likely to be exposed to asbestos. Welders also seem to smoke more than the general male population, and therefore the hypothesis of tobacco overconsumption among welders could not be discarded. C O~C~U S~O~S A 3 0 4 0 % increase in the RR of lung cancer among welders cannot be explained by hexavalent chromium and nickel exposure among stainless steel welders. The combination of the carcinogenic effects of asbestos exposure and smoking may account for part of the lung cancer excess observed.Key terms meta-analysis, stainless steel, welding.The risk of lung cancer in welders is an important issue in occupational epidemiology since (i) there may be as many as 3 million workers engaged in welding in industrialized countries (1) and (ii) welders may have been exposed to carcinogens according to welding activities, in particular exposure to hexavalent chromium and nickel when stainless steel is welded (1, 2). In addition, asbestos exposure is likely to have occurred in shipyards (2) and in other factories where welding is done (3).Following the multicentric European study, carried out by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), on the lung cancer risk of stainless steel welders as compared with that of mild steel welders (I), the question of whether stainless steel welders are at higher lung cancer risk than mild steel welders has been recently debated in the literature. The reviews by LangLd (4, 5) and the meta-analysis of 5 epidemiologic studies by Sjogren (6) suggested a specific relationship between lung cancer and exposure to hexavalent chromium and nickel when stainless steel is welded. Other authors have, however, disagreed with this proposal (7,...

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The Health of Welders in Naval Dockyards: proportional mortality study of welders and two control groups

Cited by 20 publications

References 0 publications

Mortality among Former Shipbreaking Workers—A 13‐Year Retrospective Follow‐up Study in Taiwan

Mortality among Former Shipbreaking Workers—A 13‐Year Retrospective Follow‐up Study in Taiwan

Immunotoxicology of arc welding fume: Worker and experimental animal studies

A meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies of lung cancer in welders

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