[Relative risk of pneumoconiosis in welders in metallurgy].

The values of pneumoconiosis risk in welders calculated against the dust doses that induce this pathology do not show linear relationship. In the group of electrical welders, relative risk (RR) was found statistically significant at the doses of 251-500 g; 1001-1500 g and 5501-6000 g. In the group of semi-automatic welders, similar results were observed. Odd ratio, calculated at workposts of semi-automatic welding with CO2 shield, showed that, depending on the size of a daily dose of dust, statistically significant RR was found at the doses of 1.6-2.0; 2.1-2.5; and 2.6-3.0 mg/kg/day. In the group of electric welders, statistically significant RR was observed at the doses of 2.1-2.5; 6.1-6.5; and 9.1-9.5 mg/kg/day. This may suggest that welding dust at workposts of semi-automatic welding is more aggressive. The division of welders by their dates of birth showed that in the group of welders born by 1945, the mean age at which they developed pneumoconiosis was almost 50 +/- 0.4 years, and the mean duration of occupational exposure was 25 +/- 0.3 years. In the group of welders born after 1945, these values were 36 +/- 0.6 years and 12.8 +/- 0.2 years, respectively.