Risks of cancer through welding smoke containing chromate- and nickel

Status:

completed 12/1996

Aims:

The exposure of welders to Cr and Ni when using covered rod electrodes which, in practice, cannot be completely avoided, requires effective health monitoring. Bio-marker methods, amongst other things, are possible here. Goal: evaluation of bio-marker methods for the occupational medical monitoring and early diagnosis of welders at risk of cancer.

Activities/Methods:

Examination of 50 welders and 25 control persons; individual air monitoring of Cr and Ni; determining the level of Cr and Ni in the blood and urine; detecting damage to DNA (breaks in individual strands and protein cross linking) in lymphocytes in the blood, SCE frequency, chromosome damage including G banding; oncogenic protein (p21) and ras gene in serum and urine.

Results:

Genotoxic effects on welders exposed to chrome/nickel can be finely detected on the basis of DNA individual strand breaks and protein cross-linking also dependent upon the degree of exposure. On a collective basis both these methods are suitable for indicating genotoxic exposure and strains. The value of the established effects for individual risk assessment must be determined by further research.

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