What harm does soldering do to the body

People working in the soldering industry will have some lung problems to a certain extent. During the soldering process, there will be tin dust in the air. If you stay in this environment for a long time, you will get tin dust lung. This disease generally does not cause coughing or sputum, but it is a lung disease. In addition, solder can cause harm to the body's nervous system and digestive system. This article introduces this aspect in detail, let’s take a look.

1. Harm of soldering to the body

1. Nervous system: mainly manifested as neurasthenia, multiple neuropathies and encephalopathy.

2. Digestive system: Mild cases manifest as general digestive tract symptoms, while severe cases experience abdominal colic.

3. Blood system: Lead interferes with the synthesis of hemoglobin and causes changes in its metabolites, such as decreased blood δ-ALAD activity, increased urine δ-ALA, increased urine CP, increased blood FEP and ZPP, etc., which eventually lead to anemia, mostly hypochromic normocytic anemia.

4. Other systems: Lead damage to the kidneys is more common in acute, subacute lead poisoning or more severe chronic cases, with the appearance of amino acid proteinuria, red blood cells, white blood cells and casts and renal function impairment, indicating toxic nephropathy, accompanied by hypertension.

2. Acute poisoning of solder

It is reported that the minimum concentration of acute poisoning caused by tin-contaminated canned food and fruit is 50 mg/kg. It has also been reported that people who consumed canned fruit with tin contamination concentrations of 563 mg/kg or 400 mg/kg developed clinical symptoms of acute gastroenteritis such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. This needs to be differentiated from acute bacterial gastroenteritis and symptomatic supportive treatment should be given.

Symptoms of tin pneumoconiosis

Tin smelting workers working in an environment with a tin fume concentration of 9.362 mg/m3 may develop tin pneumoconiosis. Clinically, there are few symptoms such as cough, sputum, and chest tightness, and most patients have no changes in lung function. The typical chest X-ray shows clusters of round or quasi-round small spot-like shadows widely distributed in both lung fields, resembling small osmanthus flowers with petals, but not fused with each other. Their diameter can reach 3 to 5 mm, with high density and sharp edges. The hilum of the lung is usually not enlarged. The lung texture is mostly unrecognizable or only vaguely visible. Ten to fifteen years after diagnosis, the spotted shadows in the lung fields on both sides gradually become smaller, the density decreases, the number also decreases, the lung fields gradually become clearer, but the density of the hilum gradually increases. After 25 to 30 years, metallic block shadows of various shapes will form at the hilum of the lung, while the lung fields will be basically clear.