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A random sample of 135 of the welders aged 45 years and over employed at three of Her Majesty's Dockyards and who had accepted an invitation to have medical examinations was drawn and the welders matched for sex, age, smoking habit and potential exposure to asbestos dust at work with 135 Dockyard craftsmen who had never been welders and who should have had no significant exposure to welding fumes and gases.Standardized clinical interviews and examinations, full size PA chest radiographs and a range of pulmonary function tests were carried out. The radiographs were read by three expert readers working independently and the ‘agreed’ reading of at least two was used for analysis. Results of spirometry were used to allocate each man to normal, obstructive, restrictive or mixed classes of lung function pattern using the method described by Hunnicutt et al. (1964). The lung function results of welders and controls were compared using linear regression analysis. It is concluded that there is no convincing evidence that prolonged exposure of this group of welders to welding fumes and gases in HM Dockyards has caused significant clinical abnormality nor any serious impairment of pulmonary function in the welders when compared to the controls. However, there is a slight suspicion that this exposure may cause obstructive airway changes which are not manifested by any dramatic overt excess of ill-health. |
