What Are Welding Fumes?
Welding fumes are the vapors given off during the welding process. They are also known as the fume or spatter particles created by an arc or flame during welding. These fumes spread into the atmosphere and can be hazardous to health if proper precautions are not taken.
What Makes Welding Fumes Dangerous?
The harmful effects of welding fumes on human health result from direct contact with welding gases, which contain carcinogenic elements. In addition, the inhalation of dust from the fume media causes respiratory tract irritation and can lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
How Can Welding Fumes Affect Your Health?
1. Eye and Skin irritation:
The fumes might penetrate the skin and irritate it. This occurs when the fumes land on the skin and can be absorbed into the bloodstream through bleeding or damaged skin.
2. Respiratory tract discomfort:
Welding fume has been linked with symptoms such as coughing, sore throat, hoarseness, coughs, shortness of breath, and wheezing in those who work in welding shops. These symptoms are related to lung irritation and increased susceptibility to infection due to a weakened respiratory system due to welding fumes that have made their way into the bloodstream.
3. Other symptoms:
The symptoms of health effects by welding fumes can also manifest as fatigue, paralysis, confusion, headaches, and nausea. They may also be associated with the liver, kidney, heart muscle, or nervous system.
4. Cancer:
Welding fumes are known carcinogens that may cause cancer after repeated inhalation over a long time. These are caused by inhaling fume particles or fumes that are released into the air during grinding work. It is essential to ensure that you avoid prolonged exposure to these toxic gases as they may lead to health complications in the future.
5. Long-lasting effects:
The effects of welding fumes on the body may also appear long-lasting, even after exposure stopped for many years. This may be due to ongoing damage to the respiratory system that the deposits on the body caused during exposure.
6. Reproductive toxicity:
Welding fumes cause health problems in pregnant women or plan to become pregnant, as well as babies during their first two years of life (neonatal period). It is even possible for babies to be born with defects.
7. Hematological effects:
Welding fume penetrates the bloodstream and may affect the circulatory system resulting in accelerated development of atherosclerosis (thickening of the walls of blood vessels due to excessive cholesterol buildup).
8. Neurological effects:
The level of exposure to these fumes can also affect brain function and cause confusion or other neurological damage leading to learning disabilities. Long-lasting exposure may also result in memory loss. The conditions related to neurological damage are known as neurodegenerative diseases
9. Mutagenic effects:
These fumes may also interfere with the body’s cell growth and cause genetic changes in the offspring of women who had some level of exposure during their early stages of pregnancy.
10. Skin problems:
Some metals used in welding work may accumulate on the skin’s surface and may cause minor irritation and rashes (contact dermatitis). These include chromium and nickel found on stainless steel or molybdenum, manganese, copper, cobalt, chromium, and cadmium that might be found on structures such as ships, bridges, or large structures where welding was done years ago.
How Can Welders Protect Themselves?
The following recommendations and suggestions can help prevent contact with welding fumes:
1. Wear a respirator with a high-efficiency particulate filter (HEPA) when mixing fluxes, cutting, arc welding, grinding, or repairing metals. The respirator must be fitted appropriately according to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards.
2. Apply gloves covering the hands and forearms to protect from dust and splatter from grinding metal. The glove material should be heavy enough to provide sufficient insulation against heat and flame during operations. Gloves should be thoroughly washed after each use to remove any traces of deposit.
4. Do not work close to air or exhaust fans, provided that you can adjust or remove their flow direction during welding operations.
5. Keep away from hot surfaces such as grinders, arc welding electrodes, cutting torches, furnaces, etc.
6. Keep away from water sources where fume can be trapped.
7. Ensure that the area is free from dust particles before starting the welding process and after finishing the last phase of the work, for which you are wearing a respirator with a HEPA filter. This is known as ‘clean up.’
9. Ensure the area is devoid of fumes-laden dust particles before, during, and after welding work. This will be checked with a gas monitoring system which will aid in maintaining a safe environment for workers.
10. Inappropriate work methods such as deep penetration arc welding, grinding, etc., may lead to inhalation of hazardous levels of fume particles. There is no safe level for this type of work, and you must not do any of the above-listed operations in a poorly ventilated room with a high concentration of fume particles within the air which you need to breathe most times.
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Conclusion
The above listing of health effects from welding fumes may seem overwhelming, but you do not have to live with them as they can be prevented by working in a well-maintained work environment that is free from toxic gases.
