IN-PLANT WELDING PRODUCTION ATMOSPHERE: ULYANOVSK AUTOMOBILE PLANT CASE-STUDY
Working conditions are among the most important factors affecting public health. Poor working conditions lead to high occupational morbidity. A third of the total number of employees are subject to an array of potentially harmful conditions at work. The purpose of the study is to assess the air pollution of the welders' working area in a modern engineering industry. Materials and Methods. The study involved 150 employees, including 100 welders (manual and semiautomatic welding were studied equally), as well as 50 people from the control group (25 locksmiths in the car assembly and delivery workshop and 25 engineers and technicians). The authors estimated time-weighted average concentrations. A total of 1900 air samples were analyzed. A PU-4E aspirator, a UG-2 gas analyzer, and a set of reagents were used for that purpose. Results. In-plant welding production atmosphere of the automobile manufacturer UAZ can be characterized as polluted and moderately polluted. In 47 % of samples, heavy metal content exceeded maximum allowable concentrations (MACs) by 1.5-3.0 times, in some cases by 5 times (in 6 % of samples). As you move away from the emission source, the concentration of harmful substances decreases sharply in all directions and it does not differ from the background air pollution indicators at a distance of 4 m. According to medical statistics, the overall incidence in the enterprise units is increasing as following: engineers and technicians < assembly shop workers < welding shop workers (welders). Conclusion. The highest concentrations and the largest number of samples exceeding MAC were recorded in shops with a manual method of metal welding. It results from multicomponent nature of the raw material and the lesser degree of gas contamination during semi-automatic welding.