Home cage locomotor changes in non-human primates after prolonged welding-fume exposure

To define the relationship between the brain concentration of manganese and neurological signs, such as locomotion, after prolonged welding-fume exposure, cynomolgus monkeys were acclimated for 1 month and then divided into three concentration groups: unexposed, low concentration (31 mg/m(3) total suspended particulate (TSP), 0.9 mg/m(3) of Mn), and high concentration (62 mg/m(3) TSP, 1.95 mg/m(3) of Mn) of TSP. The monkeys were exposed to manual metal-arc stainless steel (MMA-SS) welding fumes for 2 h per day over 8 months in an inhalation chamber system equipped with an automatic fume generator. The home cage locomotor activity and patterns were determined using a camera system over 2-4 consecutive days. After 25 and 32 weeks of exposure, the home cage locomotor activity of the high-concentration primates was found to be 5-6 times higher than that of the unexposed primates, and this increased locomotor activity was maintained for 7 weeks after ceasing the welding-fume exposure, eventually subsiding to three times higher after 13 weeks of recovery. Therefore, the present results, along with our previous observations of a high magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T1 signal in the globus pallidus and increased blood Mn concentration, indicate that prolonged welding-fume exposure can cause neurobehavioral changes in cynomolgus monkeys.