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Investigating the field effectiveness of respirators against metal particle exposure in various workplaces: a systematic review

  • Ata Rafiee ORCID logo , Imranul Laskar ORCID logo and Bernadette Quémerais ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: May 17, 2021
Reviews on Environmental Health
From the journal Reviews on Environmental Health Volume 37 Issue 2

Abstract

Welders are exposed to high levels of metal fumes, which could be resulting in various health impairments. Respirators became a practical protective option in workplaces, as they are lightweight and easy to use. This systematic review attempts to explore the field effectiveness of using respirators to reduce metal particle exposure in workplaces. We reviewed papers published from 1900 to April 2019 in five major bibliographic databases, including Embase, Web of Science, Medline, Scopus, and CINAHL, along with organizational websites to cover gray literature. In total, 983 references were identified from the databases, out of which, 520 duplicates were removed from the EndNote database. The remaining 463 references were screened for their title and abstract. Out of 463, 70 references went through the full-text screening. Finally, eight papers, including 19 workplace respirator studies, satisfied all the inclusion criteria and were reviewed in this report. The geometric means for metal levels in workers’ breathing zone with and without respirators were 9.4 and 1,777 µg/m3 for iron, 1.1 and 139 µg/m3 for lead, 2.1 and 242 µg/m3 for zinc, and 27 and 1,398 µg/m3 for manganese oxide, respectively. Most reviewed studies reported significant differences between measured metal particle levels among workers who worn respirators and who did not. In addition, results showed that N95 provided significantly less protection than elastomeric half facepieces, full-face respirators, and powered air-purifying respirators (p<0.001). More field studies are recommended to investigate Workplace Protection Factor (WPF) and fit factor (FF) of different respirators to understand the actual protection levels that they could be provided to control welding fume exposure among welders in various workplaces.

Keywords: metal particles; respirators; welding; welders; worker health
Corresponding author: Bernadette Quémerais, Associate Professor, Division of Preventive Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, Phone: +1 780 492 3240, E-mail:

Funding source: Alberta Innovates

Award Identifier / Grant number: 201800031

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dan Curts from 3M company for his constructive comments on the manuscript.

  1. Research funding: This study was financially supported by 3M and Alberta Economic, Development, Trade and Tourism through Alberta Innovates with grant no. 201800031.

  2. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  5. Ethical approval: Not applicable.

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Received: 2021-01-11
Accepted: 2021-04-21
Published Online: 2021-05-17
Published in Print: 2022-06-27

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2020-0174
Keywords for this article
metal particles; respirators; welding; welders; worker health

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Mini Reviews
  3. Unani medicinal herbs as potential air disinfectants: an evidence-based review
  4. Safety assessment of natural products in Malaysia: current practices, challenges, and new strategies
  5. Environmental and occupational health on the Navajo Nation: a scoping review
  6. Review Articles
  7. Understanding Holism in the light of principle underlying practice of Unani Medicine
  8. Investigating the field effectiveness of respirators against metal particle exposure in various workplaces: a systematic review
  9. To which extent are per-and poly-fluorinated substances associated to metabolic syndrome?
  10. Reactive nitrogen compounds and their influence on human health: an overview
  11. Millimeter (MM) wave and microwave frequency radiation produce deeply penetrating effects: the biology and the physics
  12. Air pollution increases the risk of pulmonary embolism: a meta-analysis
  13. Housing and health in vulnerable social groups: an overview and bibliometric analysis
  14. Environmental arsenic exposure and its toxicological effect on thyroid function: a systematic review
  15. Letters to the Editor
  16. Comments on Martin Pall, “Millimeter (MM) wave and microwave frequency radiation produce deeply penetrating effects: the biology and the physics”, Rev Environ Health 2021;37:247–58.
  17. Comments on Pall’s “Millimeter (MM) wave and microwave frequency radiation produce deeply penetrating effects: the biology and the physics”
  18. ‘Proof of EHS beyond all reasonable doubt’. Comment on: Leszczynski D. Review of the scientific evidence on the individual sensitivity to electromagnetic fields (EHS). Rev Environ Health 2021; https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2021-0038. Online ahead of print
  19. Why scientifically unfounded and misleading claim should be dismissed to make true research progress in the acknowledgment of electrohypersensibility as a new worldwide emerging pathology
  20. Comments on the article by Dariusz Leszczynski: Review of the scientific evidence on the individual sensitivity to electromagnetic fields (EHS). Rev Environ Health 2021
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