A recent study by the University of Pennsylvania shows that welders who work in confined spaces risk losing their sense of smell due to exposure to chemicals evaporated by the welding torch. Using the University of Pennsylvania’s “scratch and sniff” Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), researchers found that the majority (88%) of welders performed more poorly than the control group.
Along with this, researchers found that all welders had elevated levels of manganese from welding rods in their blood. Manganese is a known toxin that causes brain injury, leading to impaired control of body movements and emotions. However, the loss of smell was not correlated with either elevated manganese levels or with neuropsychological damage, meaning that it was an entirely separate toxic effect of the workplace.
If you have long worked at a job where you are exposed to toxic fumes or other causes that have led to a workplace injury or disability, you need an experienced worker’s compensation lawyer. In the Houston area, consult the website of Personal Injury Attorney Marc Whitehead, esq.
