Respirator usage protects brain white matter from welding fume exposure: a pilot magnetic resonance imaging study of welders.

Respirator usage protects brain white matter from welding fume exposure: a pilot magnetic resonance imaging study of welders. Neurotoxicology. 2020 Mar 23;: Authors: Rechtman E, Curtin P, Onyebeke LC, Wang VX, Papazaharias DM, Hazeltine D, de Water E, Nabeel I, Mani V, Zuckerman N, Lucchini RG, Gaughan D, Tang CY, Horton MK Abstract Welding fume exposure has been associated with structural brain changes and a wide variety of clinical and sub-clinical outcomes including cognitive, behavioral and motor abnormalities. Respirator use has been shown to decrease exposure to welding fumes; however, the associations between respirator use and health outcomes, particularly neurologic health, have been understudied. In this preliminary study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate the effectiveness of respirator use in protecting workers' white matter (WM) from the harmful effects related to welding fume exposure. Fractional anisotropy (FA), a common DTI measurement of water diffusion properties, was used as a marker of WM microstructure integrity. We hypothesized that FA in brain regions involved in motor and neurocognitive functions would differ between welders reporting respirator use compared to those not using a respirator. We enrolled a pilot cohort of 19 welders from labor unions in the New York City area. All welders completed questionnaires to assess welding history and occupational health. All completed a DTI acquisiti...
Source: Neurotoxicology - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Neurotoxicology Source Type: research