Environmental factors and uptake of cadmium among brazers using cadmium-containing hard solders

The influence of different work factors on the uptake of cadmium has been studied in 102 brazers working at least 10% of their work day with cadmium-containing hard solders. The blood concentrations of cadmium varied between less than 1 and 113 micrograms/L (less than 9 and 1010 nmol/L). Blood cadmium concentrations were below 10 micrograms/L (89 nmol/L) in 71 brazers and 31 brazers had levels equal to or above that value. The importance of some environmental factors on the blood-level of cadmium was studied with discrimination analysis. The length of the splice was found to be almost the sole determining factor for the cadmium concentration in blood. All brazers working with splices shorter than 2 cm had blood concentrations below 10 micrograms/L, while 87% of the brazers working with splices longer than 10 cm had blood concentrations equal to or above 10 micrograms/L. Other factors like age, sex, exposure time, smoking habit and brazing method were devoid of any measurable importance.