US: Toxic Smoke and Mirrors

July 12, 2008

By Jim , Mother July/August 2008 Issue

The shaking in Tamraz's right hand began in 2001. It was

intermittent, so he paid it little mind. A six-foot, 260-pound bear of

a man, he'd played football and thrown shot and discus in high school;

later he got into competitive weightlifting, and worked up to

bench-pressing 465 pounds—once, to win a bet, he flipped a Honda Civic

on its side. He brought the same passion to his work. " I taught

welding for six years, " he says. " I read books on welding. I loved to

weld. "

But by 2004, the twitching had grown too persistent to ignore,

and the 47-year-old felt sluggish and clumsy. He consulted a

neurologist and was stunned to get the diagnosis: parkinsonism. Upon

learning that his patient had been welding for 25 years, and knowing

that welding fumes contain manganese, a toxic metal, the specialist

suggested the symptoms were work related.

Since then, Tamraz has lost not only his livelihood, but much of

his easygoing personality. Gone, says Terry, his wife of 10 years, is

her husband's sense of humor and his penchant for impromptu dances in

malls and grocery stores. Driving is difficult, and eating, and sex.

Even the most mundane tasks—brushing his teeth, applying

deodorant¬—now require a mental run-through. " Pretty much nothing is

automatic anymore, " Jeff says. " I can be walking down a straight

concrete sidewalk and I just trip. My toes dig into the concrete. "

He no longer goes out much, in any case. " I became kind of a

hermit, " he says. " You get tired of people looking at you. It's

embarrassing to shake. It's a sign of weakness. "

Following Jeff's diagnosis, the couple, who live in Grants Pass,

Oregon, hired a lawyer and sued Lincoln Electric and four other makers

of manganese-containing welding wire and electrodes—also called rods

or sticks. Filed in federal District Court in Cleveland, their claim

joined thousands of others pending against welding-products

manufacturers in state and federal courts. (Employers have not been

among the targets because lawyers generally concluded they were

ignorant of the metal's dangers.)

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