Nickel and Chromium Compounds and Welding Fumes in Mammalian Cell Transformation Bioassay In vitro

摘要

The control of occupational exposures to particulates, and to welding fumes in particular, is traditionally performed by hygienic monitoring on paper filters. Exposure limits for metals frequently depend on solubility, and are usually based on 'worst case data', which, in the case of the putative carcinogens Ni(II) and Cr(VI) are derived from historic industrial exposures which have resulted in detectable cancer overincidence. Towards this aim the absolute toxicity and transformation potency of a series of Cr and Ni compounds, and industrial metallic aerosols, including welding fumes from several processes (both mild steel without and stainless steel with Cr and Ni) are compared in a standardized procedure involving alternative collection, storage and bioassay protocols.