A retrospective cohort study of mortality among stainless steel welders.

Abstract

Hexavalent Cr particles are generated in welding stainless steel. These particles manifested a mutagenic action in bacterial test systems and produced chromosome aberrations in cultured Chinese hamster cells. Welders who had welded stainless steel for more than 5 yr during 1950-1965 were studied. According to an earlier survey, hexavalent Cr exposure of such welders was often above 50 .mu.g/m3 (calculated as CrO3). The cohort was followed until Dec. 1977. Expected number of deaths was calculated from cause-, gender-, age- and year-specific death rates of general population in Sweden. In the cohort, 234 welders, observed numbers of total deaths and deaths caused by tumors were the same as expected numbers. Three welders had died from pulmonary tumors compared to expected number of 0.68 (P = 0.03).