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LINKING PEOPLE, JOINING NATIONS
With respect to research experiments on welding fume there were questions regarding
the consistency in the methods used for sampling and characterising arc welding fume
particles. McMillan was to comment on this by indicating that ‘...the dynamic physical and
chemical nature of welding fume presents challenges to meaningful sampling and analysis
and care must be taken to ensure that the results of the analysis actually represents the hazards
the welder is facing and have not been significantly altered by the sampling method’.
31
The problem of manganese and its link to manganismwas still a vexing
one and galvanised discussions even further by C-VIII in the period up to
the end of McMillan’s third and final three-year term as Chair. Whilst the
C-VIII statement on manganese had not been issued at this stage McMillan
discussed his current thoughts on whether manganese was linked to
Parkinson’s disease, or manganism, both of which by now were considered
to be two quite different types of neurological disorder. Based on the low
incidence in the literature of manganism being associated with welding,
McMillan suggested to the Commission that welders were not apparently
at a high risk of clinical damage from exposure to manganese in the fume.
The
IIW Statement on Manganese
, included in the IIW 2008 International
Conference proceedings, was to reiterate McMillan’s conclusions by stating
that there is no convincing evidence that exposure to manganese-containing
fume carried an increased risk in causing neurobehavioural issues, and that
clinical manganism and Parkinson’s disease can be differentiated from one
another with care and thorough investigation.
32
At the end of the meeting Beaufils presented McMillan with a certificate of
appreciation for his many years of service to C-VIII and Dr Luca Costa (Italy) was named
as McMillan’s successor as Chair. It was also announced that Mr Jeffery Sowards (USA)
of Ohio State University had been awarded the Granjon Prize (Category IV) for his paper
Method for Sampling and Characterising Arc Welding Fume Particles
.
Benefiting welders with good fume extraction