Submit your Welding Rod claim details for a free, no obligation case review
Get Started:
Welding rod fumes pose a potentially dangerous threat to those in the welding industry. Serious injuries can result from inhalation of welding rod fumes containing manganese. Manganese is a trace element found in the body, but high levels of exposure to welding rod fumes is toxic. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets threshold limit values of manganese exposure at five milligrams per cubic meter for a normal eight hour day, five days a week. Any welding rod fumes beyond this level have the potential to cause serious, progressive and debilitating medical conditions.
According to one Material Safety Data Sheet regarding welding rod fumes, the following signs and symptoms of overexposure are detailed. Short term or acute over-exposure to welding rod fumes can lead to dizziness, metal fume fever, nausea, and dryness or irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat. Long term or chronic exposure to welding rod fumes can lead to chronic bronchitis, lung fibrosis, impairment of pulmonary functioning, siderosis (iron deposits in the lungs), or serious damage to the central nervous system.
Manganism is one result of high exposure to welding rod fumes. This disease affects the central nervous system. It is also known as Parkinsonism because its symptoms mirror those of Parkinson''s disease. These symptoms include: shaking or tremors, extreme slowness or difficulty in movement, loss of motor functioning, slurred or changed speech patterns, difficulty with facial expressions, and depression.
One unpublished finding studied twenty thousand welders who were exposed to welding rod fumes and the same number of non-welders. This study found that those exposed to high levels of welding rod fumes developed signs of Parkinsonism ten percent of the time, whereas those in the non-welding population developed symptoms of Parkinson''s Disease one percent of the time. It has also been found that those exposed to welding rod fumes develop Parkinson''s symptoms fifteen years earlier than Parkinson''s disease patients in the non-welding population.
The relationship between manganese welding rod fumes and neurological disorders has been known since 1837, when a report on welder''s symptoms of rigidity, slow movement, fixed gaze, and tremors was published. Though this relationship between welding rod fumes and the development of serious medical problems has been known for more than one hundred and fifty years, welders are still exposed to dangerously high levels of deadly welding rod fumes.
There are medical tests that can measure manganese exposure levels in the body. If you or someone you know has been exposed to high levels of welding rod fumes and have experienced any of the aforementioned symptoms or serious medical concerns, you may be eligible to seek compensation for you injuries, expenses, and "pain and suffering."
Copyright © 2001 - 2009 Online Lawyer Source | Legal Marketing Site Designed by eJustice