Neurobehavioral performance in aluminum welders

Methods Twenty aluminum welders (mean age 33 years; range 21-52), who had b een exposed to aluminum for an average of 8.1 years (range 2-21), were test ed for tremor and reaction time and screened for neuropsychiatric symptoms in a cross-sectional study. The welders' median urinary aluminum concentrat ion was 1.5 mu mol/L (range 0.7-4.8). Aluminum in air, measured inside the respiratory protection, was 0.9 mg/m(3) (range 0.6-3.8). The welders were c ompared with twenty construction workers matched for age. Results Welders reported more symptoms than referents did (median 2 vs. 1; P = 0.047). Although the welders as a group performed better than the refer ents on a tremor test, years of exposure, bur not age, was predictive of po orer performance. The welders reaction times were rapid by clinical standar ds (mean simple reaction time (SRT): 221 milliseconds; mean continuous perf ormance test (CPT): 364 milliseconds). Although, as a group, they performed better than the referents, there teas a statistically significant relation between longer reaction times and aluminum in air (air-Al). Conclusions The relations between hand steadiness and years exposed, and be tween reaction time and air-Al, could indicate slight effects from exposure to aluminum The possibility of selection of workers with high manual skill s into welding work and a possible job-related training effect, might partl y serve to explain the good performance among the the elders. (C) 2000 Wile y-Liss, Inc.