title: Airborne exposure to inhalable hexavalent chromium in welders and other occupations: Estimates from the German MEGA database.
abstract: This study aimed to estimate occupational exposure to inhalable hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) using the exposure database MEGA. The database has been compiling Cr(VI) concentrations and ancillary data about measurements at German workplaces. We analysed 3659 personal measurements of inhalable Cr(VI) collected between 1994 and 2009. Cr(VI) was determined spectrophotometrically at 540 nm after reaction with diphenylcarbazide. We assigned the measurements to pre-defined at-risk occupations using the information provided about the workplaces. Two-thirds of the measurements were below the limit of quantification (LOQ) and multiply imputed according to the distribution above LOQ. The 75th percentile value was 5.2 μg/m(3) and the 95th percentile was 57.2 μg/m(3). We predicted the geometric mean for 2h sampling in the year 2000, and the time trend of Cr(VI) exposure in these settings with and without adjustment for the duration of measurements. The largest dataset was available for welding (N = 1898), which could be further detailed according to technique. The geometric means were above 5 μg/m(3) in the following situations: spray painting, shielded metal arc welding, and flux-cored arc welding if applied to stainless steel. The geometric means were between 1 μg/m(3) and 5 μg/m(3) for gas metal arc welding of stainless steel, cutting, hard-chromium plating, metal spraying and in the chemical chromium industry. The exposure profiles described here are useful for epidemiologic and industrial health purposes. Exposure to Cr(VI) varies not only between occupations, but also within occupations as shown for welders. In epidemiologic studies, it would be desirable to collect exposure-specific information in addition to the job title.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany. Electronic address: pesch@ipa-dguv.de.
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pesch
authors.affiliation: Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kendzia
authors.affiliation: Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hauptmann
authors.affiliation: Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin, Germany.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van Gelder
authors.affiliation: Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin, Germany.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stamm
authors.affiliation: Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens-Uwe
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.affiliation: Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zschiesche
authors.affiliation: Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Behrens
authors.affiliation: Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CRCHUM) and School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Siemiatycki
authors.affiliation: University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CRCHUM) and School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lavoué
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry, and Epidemiology, University Hospital of Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Karl-Heinz
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Jöckel
authors.affiliation: Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brüning
mesh_terms: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis*; D002857:Chromium / Q000032:analysis*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D009790:Occupations; D013193:Stainless Steel; D014896:Welding; D017132:Workplace
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D002857:Chromium; D013193:Stainless Steel; C074702:chromium hexavalent ion
keywords: Exposure assessment; Exposure database; Hexavalent chromium; Job-exposure matrix; Personal measurements; Welding