Biological monitoring of welders exposed to aluminium

To evaluate an adequate strategy for biological monitoring of aluminium (Al), a group of 62 Al welders (age in 1999: 23-51 years, median 35 years) was surveyed annually from 1999 to 2003 by determination of pre- and post-shift Al in urine and plasma. Biomonitoring was supplemented by personal air measurements of the total dust concentration. The welders' internal exposure was compared to the exposure of 60 non-exposed assembly workers (age in 1999: 21-51 years, median: 36 years) who were surveyed in 1999, 2001 and 2003. Having a nearly constant dust exposure, median concentrations of Al in urine (Al in plasma) of the welders decreased from 40.1 microg/g to 19.8 microg/g creatinine (8.7 to 4…