A Case of occupational asthma due to awelding flux is presented. The patient was a welder engaged in gas welding of copper, nickel alloy, and zincplated iron, etc. in a shipyard. His astb,rnatic symptoms developed 5, yrs ago snd used to be provoked or...
A Case of occupational asthma due to awelding flux is presented. The patient was a welder engaged in gas welding of copper, nickel alloy, and zincplated iron, etc. in a shipyard. His astb,rnatic symptoms developed 5, yrs ago snd used to be provoked or aggravated by welding procedure. Bronchoprovocation tests were performed during which the patient welded several kinds of metals with his own hands. Interestingly, wheezing dyspnea and decreased expiratory flow rate were observed only when he used a wel:dng flux. Direct bjurning of the flux without metal also resu)ted in airway obstruction. However, the causative off- ending constituent of the flux couldnt be ide'ntified, because the patient died of acute astbmatic attack on his sbop floor and further study was impossible.