LOBAR PNEUMONIA - AN OCCUPATIONAL-DISEASE IN WELDERS

We have used data from three analyses of occupational mortality for En gland and Wales to investigate a suspected hazard of pneumonia in weld ers. Mortality from the disease was consistently raised in welders age d 15-64, with standardised mortality ratios of 184 (95% Cl 150-224) in 1959-63 and 157 (121-200) in 1970-72. Analysis of data for 1979-80 an d 1982-90 showed that the increased risk is attributable mainly to an excess of pneumococcal and unspecified lobar pneumonia (proportional m ortality ratio 255, 95% Cl 192-332). No excess occurred in men above r etirement age (65). A possible explanation of these findings is that w elding fume reversibly increases the susceptibility of the lung to pne umonic infection. The observation of a similar mortality pattern in mo ulders and coremakers points to the metallic component of the fume as a possible culprit, but ozone or oxides of nitrogen could also be impl icated. There are grounds for lobar pneumonia to be considered an occu pational disease in welders.