The effects of welding fumes on students

Abstract

The research sought to determine the possible effects of exposure to welding fumes on the behavior of students, and attempted to detect possible heavy metal buildup in scalp hairs gathered at the start and conclusion of a five or 10 week testing period. Subjects were two classes of beginning welding students and a single class of drafting students at Texas A & M University (TAMU) and three similar classes from Texas State Technical Institute (TSTI). The TSTI welding students had nine consecutive months of exposure, four hours a day, five days per week. The TAMU students were beginners, and engaged in welding activities for three hours per day, three days per week, for five weeks. All students were administered five behavioral performance tests weekly: Pursuit Rotor, Visual Choice, Hole Steadiness, Purdue Pegboard, and Light Coincidence. The behavioral performance tests were administered during the summer of 1978 for five weeks at TAMU and for 10 weeks at TSTI. At the beginning and end of the test periods, scalp hair samples were gathered from all participants and analyzed using Neutron Activation Analysis at the TAMU Nuclear Science Center. Research questions were posed: (1) to detect possible behavioral performance changes in students which may have been attributed to welding fume exposure; (2) to determine if the duration of exposure to welding fumes was in any way related to the behavioral performance changes; and (3) to determine the amount, if any, of heavy metal buildup that may have occurred in the students' scalp hair. The study found no significant difference attributable to welding exposure in the behavioral performance levels of the six groups. The hair analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between the welding and nonwelding students. The study concluded that exposure in welding class of up to four hours per day for periods of up to 11 months produced neither discernable behaviorable changes nor detectable buildup of trace elements in the scalp hair samples.