Objective: To investigate the occupational effects of Arc-welding on small scale welders in Modakeke, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Design: A community-based, cross-sectional study.
Setting: A semi-urban area Modakeke, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Population: A semi-urban area with a population of about 300,000 (three hundred thousand).
Study population: Forty four Arc-welders in Modakeke, Ile-Ife and fifty age and sex-matched controls working in the Maintenance Department of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Intervention: Structured questionnaires adapted from the Medical Research Council, UK respiratory questionnaire with some modifications were administered to all subjects and controls. Physical examination and lung function tests were also carried out on all subjects and controls.
Main outcome measures: Occupational-related symptoms of welders and controls were compared. Ventilatory function of welders and controls were also compared using the Student's 't'-test. Chi-square was adopted to test the strength of relationship between smoking and lung function abnormalities.
Results: The most frequent symptoms found among the subjects were eye irritation (95.43%), rhinitis (50.09%) and skin irritation (43.19%). The arc-welders were found to have characteristically lower lung function parameters than controls (p < 0.05). Ten (22.7%) of the subjects had obstructive lung disease compared to four (8%) of the controls; while 18 (40.9%) of the subjects had restrictive lung disease. Their lung abnormalities had no relationship to their smoking history.
Conclusion: Workers exposed to arc-welding are at risk of occupational-related symptoms and chronic lung disease. Adoption of protective devices and monitoring of welders' breathing zones for toxic levels of gases and fumes are necessary to reduce the risk associated with arc-welding.