caa a22 4500 463193814 CHVBK 20180406164916.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170326e20071001xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00420-007-0191-2 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00420-007-0191-2 Longitudinal study on potential neurotoxic effects of aluminium: I. Assessment of exposure and neurobehavioural performance of Al welders in the train and truck construction industry over 4years [Elektronische Daten] [E. Kiesswetter, M. Schäper, M. Buchta, K. Schaller, B. Rossbach, H. Scherhag, W. Zschiesche, S. Letzel] Objectives: Previous cross sectional studies on potential neurotoxic effects of long-term aluminium exposures by aluminium welders lack clear interpretable results for methodological reasons. The present longitudinal study examined on the one hand the reliability and representativity of Al-biomonitoring as indicator of individual long-term exposure and on the other hand the long-term changes of neurobehavioural performance in Al welders in relation to Al exposure and neurobehavioural performance changes of a non-exposed control group. Methods: The longitudinal study compared repeatedly measured exposure data and neurobehavioural data of 20, initially 44, male Al welders in the train and truck construction industry with data of a control group of similar age on the basis of three investigations over a period of 4years. The repeated measurements of exposure included total dust in air as well as Al in pre- and post-shift plasma and urine samples. Neurobehavioural methods comprised symptoms, verbal intelligence, logic thinking, psychomotor behaviour, memory, and attention. Computer-aided tests from the Motor Performance Series (MLS) and the European Neurobehavioural Evaluation System (EURO-NES) were used. The characteristics of the biomonitoring data and the relationship to neurobehavioural data were examined with methods of correlation and regression analysis. The courses of neurobehavioural changes were analysed with multivariate covariance-analytical methods (MANCOVA) considering the covariates age, indicators of ‘a priori' intelligence differences (education or ‘premorbid' intelligence), and alcohol consumption (carbohydrate-deficient transferrin in plasma, CDT). Results: The mean total dust load during welding, near to the routinely worn ventilated helmets, was in the range of 5-8mg/m3. The biomonitoring data of the welders (pre-shift: 88-140μg Al/g creatinine in urine; 13-16μg Al/l plasma) showed a high long-term stability but also sensitivity to acute shift dependent exposure changes. The Al welders who had been working in this profession at an average of 15years showed no significantly increased symptom levels compared with the control group. Explorative regression and covariance analyses revealed neither a correlation between biomonitoring and performance variables nor a significant difference between Al-exposed and controls in the performance courses during the 4years period. Explorative modelling indicated that the structure of neurobehavioural outcomes could be determined by possible indicators of intellectual ‘a priori' (premorbid) differences between subjects but not by their exposure information. Conclusions: Compared to studies in the literature this study is characterized by relatively high and non-confounded Al exposure of the welders, a repeated-measurement design, and multivariate analyses. However, the long-term stable interindividual differences of internal Al exposure were not related to interindividual differences in neurobehavioural performances. Additionally, the lack of processual changes of neurobehavioural performances during the observation phase and the insignificant group differences do not make it very probable that degenerative processes caused by Al had happened before study onset or stopped just at this time point. Springer-Verlag, 2007 Aluminium welders nationallicence Biomonitoring nationallicence Neurobehavioural performance nationallicence Longitudinal study nationallicence Kiesswetter E. Institute for Occupational Physiology, University of Dortmund, Ardeystr. 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany aut Schäper M. Institute for Occupational Physiology, University of Dortmund, Ardeystr. 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany aut Buchta M. Institut für Arbeits- Sozial- und Umweltmedizin, Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany aut Schaller K. Institut und Poliklinik für Arbeits- Sozial- und Umweltmedizin, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany aut Rossbach B. Institut für Arbeits- Sozial- und Umweltmedizin, Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany aut Scherhag H. Institut für Arbeits- Sozial- und Umweltmedizin, Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany aut Zschiesche W. Berufsgenossenschaft der Feinmechanik und Elektrotechnik, Köln, Germany aut Letzel S. Institut für Arbeits- Sozial- und Umweltmedizin, Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany aut International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health Springer-Verlag 81/1(2007-10-01), 41-67 0340-0131 81:1<41 2007 81 420 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-007-0191-2 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-007-0191-2 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Kiesswetter E. Institute for Occupational Physiology, University of Dortmund, Ardeystr. 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Schäper M. Institute for Occupational Physiology, University of Dortmund, Ardeystr. 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Buchta M. Institut für Arbeits- Sozial- und Umweltmedizin, Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Schaller K. Institut und Poliklinik für Arbeits- Sozial- und Umweltmedizin, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Rossbach B. Institut für Arbeits- Sozial- und Umweltmedizin, Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Scherhag H. Institut für Arbeits- Sozial- und Umweltmedizin, Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Zschiesche W. Berufsgenossenschaft der Feinmechanik und Elektrotechnik, Köln, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Letzel S. Institut für Arbeits- Sozial- und Umweltmedizin, Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health Springer-Verlag 81/1(2007-10-01), 41-67 0340-0131 81:1<41 2007 81 420 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence SWISSBIB 453074944 BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer