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LINKING PEOPLE, JOINING NATIONS
mean that the unknown, long-term effects of welding on the health of welding operatives
became a serious problem. This was particularly significant in the developing countries
where combating this problem would be less certain due to lack of understanding, both
from a medical and technical viewpoint, and poor training and communication. IIW was to
take advantage of its present status to aggregate and disseminate information such as this on
all aspects of health and safety in welding and its allied industries. In addition, it was well
placed through its authority to provide information on all aspects and safety to the welding
world and also to governmental and legal authorities.
Alongside the role thatC-VIII had toplay incollatingall this information
on possible causes of health impairment in welders, a considerable number
of studies were already being carried out around the world to determine the
effects of welding on a range of medical conditions. Sweden, in particular,
as well as playing a significant role in C-VIII, undertook an epidemiological
study of almost 50 000 welders for 29 years, which found that exposure to
welding fume did not support a relationship between welding and Parkinson’s
disease, or any other degenerative neurological health problems.
9
The study,
which was funded by the European Union, was also supported by a similar
study in Denmark that did not find any association between welding and
Parkinson’s disease.
A study commissioned by the AWS also found that welders did not have a higher risk
of Parkinson’s disease than the normal population.
10
Also, a similar disorder, manganism
which was almost identical to Parkinson’s disease, was commonly attributed to being
associated with the presence of manganese-containing particles in fumes from electric arc
welding. The wisest approach, as expounded by McMillan and C-VIII, was to act with
vigour to reduce exposure and monitor the effectiveness of this additional protection
whilst conducting, at the same time, high quality research to allow sound conclusions to
be drawn on the association between manganese and neuro-toxicological disorders.
11
This
culminated in the release in 2005 of an
IIW Statement on Manganese
by the Board of
Directors summarising the evidence from scientific literature and making recommendations
for the control of exposure and future research.
Through its panel of experts, C-VIII was to be faced with a plethora of information
from medical studies around the world during the 1990s including health risks associated
with brazing and soldering
12
and the influence of hexavalent chromium and manganese
which, when it is breathed in, can bypass the normal body defence mechanisms resulting
in damage to the lungs, kidneys and the central nervous system.
13
Hexavalent chromium
was, and still is, considered to be an occupational carcinogen in this form that can attack
lungs, nasal and sinus cavities.
14
This was not confined to welding per se but could be