Neurobehavioral performance in aluminum welders

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Methods Twenty aluminum welders (mean age 33 years; range 21–52), who had been exposed to aluminum for an average of 8.1 years (range 2–21), were tested for tremor and reaction time and screened for neuropsychiatric symptoms in a cross‐sectional study. The welders' median urinary aluminum concentration was 1.5 μmol/L (range 0.7–4.8). Aluminum in air, measured inside the respiratory protection, was 0.9 mg/m3 (range 0.6–3.8). The welders were compared with twenty construction workers matched for age. Results Welders reported more symptoms than referents did (median 2 vs. 1; P=0.047). Although the welders as a group performed better than the referents on a tremor test, years of exposure, but not age, was predictive of poorer performance. The welders' reaction times were rapid by clinical standards (mean simple reaction time (SRT): 221 milliseconds; mean continuous performance test (CPT): 364 milliseconds). Although, as a group, they performed better than the referents, there was a statistically significant relation between longer reaction times and aluminum in air (air‐Al). Conclusions The relations between hand steadiness and years exposed, and between reaction time and air‐Al, could indicate slight effects from exposure to aluminum. The possibility of selection of workers with high manual skills into welding work and a possible job‐related training effect, might partly serve to explain the good performance among the welders. Am. J. Ind. Med. 37:184–192, 2000.