J Occup Environ Med 2015 Aug;57(8):845-50
From the Institute for Occupational and Social Medicine (Ms Dewald, Dr Gube, Dr Baumann, Dr Bertram, Ms Kossack, Prof Dr Kraus, and Dr Brand); ISF-Welding and Joining Institute (Mr Lenz and Prof Dr Resigen), RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
Objective: Emissions from a particular welding process, metal inert gas brazing of zinc-coated steel, induce an increase in C-reactive protein. In this study, it was investigated whether inflammatory effects could also be observed for other welding procedures.
Methods: Twelve male subjects were separately exposed to (1) manual metal arc welding fumes, (2) filtered air, and (3) metal active gas welding fumes for 6 hours. Inflammatory markers were measured in serum before, and directly, 1 and 7 days after exposure.
Results: Although C-reactive protein concentrations remained unchanged, neutrophil concentrations increased directly after exposure to manual metal arc welding fumes, and endothelin-1 concentrations increased directly and 24 hours after exposure. After exposure to metal active gas and filtered air, endothelin-1 concentrations decreased.
Conclusions: The increase in the concentrations of neutrophils and endothelin-1 may characterize a subclinical inflammatory reaction, whereas the decrease of endothelin-1 may indicate stress reduction.