title: Increased lung function decline in blue-collar workers exposed to welding fumes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is no consensus at the present time about the effect of welding on lung function decline. This study compared lung function decline between blue-collar workers exposed and not exposed to welding fumes in a French longitudinal cohort of 21,238 subjects aged 37 to 52 years at inclusion.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical data, occupation, sector of activity, and spirometry were recorded twice by occupational physicians in 1990 and 1995. A job-exposure matrix was used to identify 503 male blue-collar workers exposed to welding fumes and 709 control subjects and to define the weekly duration of exposure to welding fumes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Baseline lung function parameters were higher in workers exposed to welding fumes than in control subjects. After a 5-year follow-up, welding-fume exposure was associated with a nonsignificant decline in FVC (P = .06) and FEV(1) (P = .07) after adjustment for age, pack-years, BMI, and baseline value of the parameter. A significant accelerated decline in FEV(1) (P = .046) was also observed in never smokers exposed to welding fumes. An “exposure-response” relationship was observed between FEV(1) decline and weekly duration of exposure to welding fumes in nonsmokers but not in smokers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Blue-collar workers exposed to welding fumes showed accelerated decline in lung function, which, in nonsmokers, was related to weekly duration of exposure.
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 6249 Chrono-environnement Centre National de Recherche Scientifique/Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon, Nancy, France; Occupational Diseases Department, University Hospital, Nancy, France. Electronic address: i.thaon@chu-nancy.fr.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Thaon
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité, Vandœuvre, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Demange
authors.affiliation: Occupational Diseases Department, University Hospital, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Herin
authors.affiliation: Inspection médicale du travail des Pays de Loire, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Touranchet
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U954, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Paris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume / Q000502:physiology; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013147:Spirometry; D014896:Welding
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational