Skin and Eye Diseases Among Arc Welders and Those Exposed to Welding Operations

The prevalence of skin and eye abnormalities was determined in 77 journeymen welders, 75 members of other trades exposed to welding operations and 58 non-exposed comparison workers. Characteristics including possible r factors for skin cancer were compared among the groups. Localized cutaneous eryth...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 1981-02, Vol.23 (2), p.85-90
Main Authors: Emmett, Edward A., Buncher, C. Ralph, Suskind, Raymond B., Rowe, Kenneth W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Eye Diseases - epidemiology
Eye Diseases - etiology
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Occupational Diseases - etiology
Original Articles
Skin Diseases - epidemiology
Skin Diseases - etiology
Welding
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Summary:The prevalence of skin and eye abnormalities was determined in 77 journeymen welders, 75 members of other trades exposed to welding operations and 58 non-exposed comparison workers. Characteristics including possible r factors for skin cancer were compared among the groups. Localized cutaneous erythema was frequent in welders and occasional in other exposed workers. Small cutaneous scars were frequent in welders. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of actinic elastosis by occupational group; however, the degree of elastosis was significantly associated with type of complexion, original hair color, eye color, childhood freckling, poor ability to tan and ease of sunburning. There were no significant differences among the groups in the prevalence of various dermatoses, skin tumors, alterations in visual acuity or clinical ocular abnormalities on slit lamp biomicroscopy and fundoscopy apart from variations in the amount of dust in the lids. The observed prevalences of skin and eye diseases may provide useful comparative data.
ISSN:0096-1736
1076-2752
2332-3795
DOI:10.1097/00043764-198102000-00010