Kidney function in stainless steel welders.

Seventeen male manual metal-arc stainless steel welders (mean exposure time 20 years) had far higher levels of chromium in urine than individually matched controls (medians 23 vs 1.5 mumol/mol creatinine; 10.5 vs 0.7 microgram/g creatinine). However, there were no signs of kidney damage in tests of function of tubuli (beta-hexosaminidase, lysozyme, and beta 2-microglobuline) or glomeruli (albumine clearance).