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 "Welding fumes have previously been classified as 'possibly
carcinogenic' to people," said Dr. Denitza Blagev, a researcher at
the University of Utah and Intermountain Medical Center in Murray,
Utah.
"Although welders have been observed to experience higher lung
cancer rates, there are many other factors - including smoking,
asbestos and other carcinogen exposures - that were likely
contributing to that increased risk," Blagev, who wasn't involved in
the study, said by email.
For the current analysis, researchers examined data from 45
previously published studies with a total of roughly 17 million
participants. Overall, people who worked as welders or had exposure
to welding fumes were 43 percent more likely to develop lung cancer.
When researchers looked only at data from studies that accounted for
both smoking and asbestos exposure, welding was still associated
with a 17 percent higher risk of lung cancer.
"It is now clear that the increased lung cancer risk in welders is
not fully explained by these other factors," Blagev said by email.
"And with this review, welding fumes can be classified as
'carcinogenic' to humans."
Worldwide, an estimated 110 million workers are exposed to welding
fumes either as welders or as bystanders, Dr. Neela Guha of the
California Environmental Protection Agency and colleagues note in
Occupational & Environmental Medicine.
Welding fumes are generated when metals are heated above their
melting point and then vaporize and condense into very fine solid
particles in the air. The exact blend of chemicals in these vapors
can depend on the type of metals involved, the welding process, and
the occupational setting where the work is performed.
For example, nickel compounds and chromium are both known to cause
lung cancer and are typically present in fumes when workers weld
stainless steel, the study team writes. These metals are in much
lower concentrations in other types of steel, which tend to produce
fumes with more fine particulate matter - tiny solid and liquid bits
of soot, dust and chemicals that can damage the lungs.
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The analysis wasn't designed to prove whether or how welding fumes
might directly cause lung cancer.
One limitation of the study is that researchers lacked data to
determine whether cancer risk varied for different welding processes
such as flux-core arc welding, gas metal arc welding, and gas
tungsten arc welding.
Researchers also didn't know the duration of welders' exposure to
fumes associated with cancer.
"The process can take decades of exposure," said Paul Cullinan, an
occupational and environmental health researcher at Royal Brompton
Hospital and Imperial College London in the UK.
Still, the results underscore the importance of workplace safety
measures to reduce exposure to welding fumes, Cullinan, who wasn't
involved in the study, said by email.
"Workers and their employers need to continue to contain welding
fume so that it isn't inhaled in large quantities," Cullinan said.
"The best way to do this is through the use of local 'exhaust'
ventilation which carries the fume away from the worker's breathing
zone," Cullinan said. "Second best is the use of protective masks."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2HusFtZ Occupational & Environmental
Medicine, online May 14, 2019.
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