Clinical aspects of somatic comorbidities in gas and electric welders

Introduction: Health effects of welding fumes in workers are not limited to fibrosis and irritation of the respiratory tract. Inhalation of a complex mixture of particles and gases from the workplace air can cause damage to the central nervous system and higher incidence of nonoccupational diseases attributed to toxic, allergic, and carcinogenic effects of this risk factor.

Objective: To study characteristics of somatic comorbidities in welders with occupational diseases of the respiratory system.

Materials and methods: The study involved 140 male patients aged 48 to 60 years suffering from occupational respiratory diseases. The main (first) group included gas and electric welders while the reference group consisted of miners and millers with silica-related lung diseases. The mean occupational exposure to industrial aerosols in the groups was 22.8 ± 6.7 and 22.3 ± 6.9 years, respectively. We conducted a questionnaire-based survey and clinical laboratory testing of the workers. The intergroup differences were considered statistically significant at p < 0.05.

Results: We established that lesions of the mucous membrane of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum were the most prevalent comorbidities in the electric welders (72.7 %), followed by dyslipidemia (47.3 %), stage I hypertension (36.4 %), liver diseases (31.8 %), kidney damage (31.1 %), stage II and III hypertension (27.8 %). Coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus were much less frequent and observed in only 4.5 % of the welders. Mucosal lesion of the upper gastrointestinal tract and liver diseases were more prevalent in the welders compared to the reference group. Study limitations: Statistical analysis was carried out using a nonparametric test to compare two independent samples.

Conclusions: Exposure to welding fumes inducing occupational respiratory diseases increases the frequency of a combination of such nonoccupational diseases as lesions of the mucous membrane of the upper gastrointestinal tract and liver damage.

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