A report published in a professional medical journal concludes that there is no link between welding or exposure to welding fumes and an increased risk of Parkinson's disease or other similar movement disorders.

The report was based on an epidemiological study that the Welding Information Center (www.weldinginfocenter.org) says is the most comprehensive epidemiological cohort study ever conducted of Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders among men who work as welders. The study's title is "Parkinson's Disease and Other Basal Ganglia or Movement Disorders in a Large Nationwide Cohort of Swedish Welders." The report was published in the February 2006 issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine an international peer reviewed journal.

A group of 49,488 male welders and flame cutters were compared in the study to a group of 489,572 men from the general Swedish population. Researchers compared information from public health records on both groups going back to 1964.

A press release from the Welding Information Center quoted Dr. Mark Roberts, fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, as saying the study's findings are significant. "The size of the cohort and control group, combined with the reliability and accuracy of the data make this study the most rigorous and informative on the issue to date," Roberts said.

Incidence rates for the degenerative disorders that were studied were found to be "not significantly different" between the welders and the comparison group. The disorders included basal ganglia and movement disorders, Parkinson's disease, secondary parkinsonism, other degenerative diseases of the basal ganglia, dystonia, and other extrapyramidal and movement disorders. The study included an analysis of shipyard welders who are presumed to have higher exposure to welding fumes, and that analysis also showed no increased rate of Parkinson's disease or other movement disorders.

The study was financed by a grant from the International Epidemiology Institute, an independent biomedical research organization, based on a grant provided by a group of current and former manufacturers of welding consumables. The manufacturers were not involved in any aspect of the study design, data collection or interpretation. The Welding Information Center is sponsored by manufacturers and distributors of welding rods.