Fertility among Danish male welders.
研究丹麦3702名男性金属工人的生育能力，发现焊工在焊接暴露后一年内生育概率略有下降，与低碳钢焊接相关，与不锈钢焊接无关。
Welding may be detrimental to the male reproductive system. Fertility was examined in a Danish cohort of 3702 male metalworkers over a follow-up of 47 674 person-years. Occupational histories were gathered by postal questionnaires. Information on births was obtained by record linkage to the Danish Central Population Register. Among persons who had ever worked as welders, the probability of having a child was slightly reduced the year after a year of welding exposure, even after control for differences in age, birth cohort, paternal parity, birth of a child in the preceding five years, smoking, and consumption of alcoholic beverages (odds ratio 0.89, 95% confidence interval 0.83-0.97). The reduction in fertility was associated with the welding of mild steel, but not with the welding of stainless steel. These findings are consistent with results of previous studies of time to conception and semen quality in welders.