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Biological effect markers in exhaled breath condensate and biomonitoring in welders: impact of smoking and protection equipment

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Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of welding as well as the impact of smoking and protection measures on biological effect markers in exhaled breath condensate. Additionally, biomonitoring of chromium, aluminium and nickel in urine was performed to quantify internal exposure.

Methods

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and urine samples of 45 male welders and 24 male non-exposed control subjects were collected on Friday pre-shift and after 8 h of work post-shift. In EBC, biological effect markers such as malondialdehyde, nitrite, nitrate, 3-nitrotyrosine, tyrosine, hydroxyproline, proline, H2O2 and pH-value were measured while aluminium, nickel, and chromium were measured in the urine samples.

Results

Although internal exposure to aluminium, nickel and chromium in this study was low, welders showed significantly increased concentrations of all these parameters at baseline compared to non-exposed controls. Moreover, welders had higher nitrate concentrations in EBC at baseline and after shift. Nitrate concentration was considerably lower after shift if personal protection equipment was used. H2O2 was increased only when subjects smoked during shift.

Conclusion

It has been shown that welding-associated long-term and short-term health effects could be detected in a population of welders. The results also showed that using personal protection equipment is of high importance and H2O2 may be an effect marker associated with smoking rather than with welding fumes, while nitrate in EBC seems to be sensitive to welding fume exposure.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Alice Mueller-Lux, MD, Dr. Angela Conventz, PhD, Anita Musiol, Karina Müller and Dr. Thomas Schettgen, PhD, for their assistance during the measurements in the companies and in the laboratory. The authors also thank Kathy Bischof for her review of and comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by the ‘Arbeitsgemeinschaft industrieller Forschungsvereinigungen ‘‘Otto von Guericke’’ e.V.’, AIF-Grant 14437.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Occupational and Social Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Monika Gube, Joachim Ebel, Peter Brand, Thomas Göen & Thomas Kraus

  2. Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schillerstraße 29, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Thomas Göen

  3. ISF, Welding and Joining Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Pontstraße 49, 52062, Aachen, Germany

    Karl Holzinger & Uwe Reisgen

Authors
  1. Monika Gube
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  2. Joachim Ebel
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  3. Peter Brand
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  4. Thomas Göen
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  5. Karl Holzinger
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  6. Uwe Reisgen
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  7. Thomas Kraus
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Brand.

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Gube, M., Ebel, J., Brand, P. et al. Biological effect markers in exhaled breath condensate and biomonitoring in welders: impact of smoking and protection equipment. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 83, 803–811 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-010-0516-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-010-0516-4

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