K. Schmid et al., USE OF BONE-MINERAL CONTENT DETERMINATION BY X-RAY ABSORPTIOMETRY IN THE EVALUATION OF OSTEODYSTROPHY AMONG WORKERS EXPOSED TO ALUMINUM POWDERS, Science of the total environment, 163, 1995, pp. 147-151
Within the framework of a cross-sectional study, we investigated 61 em
ployees in an aluminium powder factory to see if aluminium had an infl
uence on bone mineral content using the non-invasive method of bone de
nsity measurement. Thirty-two workers had been employed for, on averag
e, 151 months in the area of aluminium powder production. Twenty-nine
employees in the same factory, who had not been engaged in the product
ion of aluminium powder, served as controls. The groups differed signi
ficantly in the concentrations of aluminium in urine and plasma. The b
one mineral content, which was determined in the lumbar spine by means
of photon absorptiometry showed no significant difference between the
groups. The bone density value amounted to 1.00 g/cm(2) for those exp
osed and 1.02 g/cm(2) for the control group (median values). No correl
ation could be determined between the values obtained from the biologi
cal monitoring of the plasma or the duration of exposure and the bone
density values. To summarise, using osteodensitometry as the method of
investigation here, no influence could be detected for an occupationa
l exposure to aluminium powders on the mineral salt content of the ske
letal system in the area of the lumbar spine.