WELDING FUME – WHAT ARE THE HEALTH CONCERNS AND HOW WELDING FUME COLLECTORS CAN HELP?
Welding fumes occur when metals are welded. But what exactly is welding fume? What health concerns prevail? How ESTA welding fume collectors can help provide a healthier work environment? Find the answers to those questions below.
What is welding fume?
The harmful substances that evaporate in the process of welding, soldering and thermal cutting and/or spraying are referred to as welding fumes. Those pollutants are made of various gases and very small dust particles. The consistency of the welding fumes can be very complex and vary strongly based on the usage of work materials and their contaminations like material surface coating with greases and oils. For the most part there is a component that determines the toxitity and quantity dominance. That component is referred to as „main component“ and serves as the basis for risk assessment.
HEALTH CONCERNS WITH WELDING FUMES
Dust particles in welding fumes are partially smaller than 0.1 μm and therefore are able to enter the alveoli, which means they can advance to the pulmonary alveoli of the lungs when inhaled.
Due to the small size of the welding dust particles they are neither clearly visible nor directly noticeable. This makes the welding fumes even more dangerous as they deposit unnoticed in the body initially and then cause damages. Possible health concerns are dizziness, nausea, headaches, respiratory diseases, nerve damages and even cancer.
Because of those health concerns, welding fumes are categorized as hazardous substances according to the „Dangerous Goods Declaration“ called Gefahrenstoffverordnung (GefStoffV) in Germany.
You can find more information on dust classification and their health consequences on our website under „what is dust ?“
Whether welding fumes have a rather burdensome impact on the respiratory system, are toxic or have cancerous effects depends on the occuring contaminants.
Aluminum oxyde and iron oxyde strain heavily the lungs and respiratory system when absorbed over a longer period of time. They can cause illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis or aluminosis (metal deposits in the lungs).
Substance concentrations that are causing toxification in the body are considered toxic afflicting substances. Examples are manganese oxide, hydrocyanic acid and carbon monoxide. Possible symptoms of a toxification are hightened pulse, respiratory paralysis, dizziness, headaches, nausea and pulmonary oedema.
Another particle group is the one of cancerous substances. This includes i.e. lead oxide, nickel oxide and chromium (VI)- compounds. The risk cancer increases with rising particle concentration.
ESTA welding fume extraction
ESTA offers ventilation systems in order to effectively exhaustwelding fumes to protect the health of employees and adhere to legal requirements concerning welding fumes. To ensure optimal welding fume extraction individual circumstances such as type of work place (mobile or stationary), welding procedure or the composition of the work piece have to be taken into consideration.
Mobile welding fume filter
Welding fume filters for mobile installation are particularly flexible and are therefore suitable for frequent changing operation sites. The welding fume is collected directly at the point of discharge and can usually be extracted at one or several workplaces simultaneously.
The welding fume collector DUSTOMAT 4 is a frequently proven extraction solution for nearly any scope of application in the medium performance range.
Compact models like the SRF T are portable and can be connected directly to the welding torch.
The mobile SRF K is suitable for the extraction of large amounts of smoke and provides air-return back into the work area due to its 99.9% collection efficiency.
High-vaccum welding fume filters such as the SRF SK provide even with longer distances to the point of discharge an optimal extraction solution.
DUSTOMAT DRY
The compact dust extractors of the DUSTOMAT DRY series are suitable for almost all applications due to their versatile configurations. Extraction of dry and free-flowing dusts and chips.
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SRF K series
Mobile welding fume filters for large fume volumes at up to two work stations.
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Dustomat 4
Energy-efficient all-rounder: Can be used as a mobile dust extractor for dust and shavings or as a welding fume filter for welding fume.
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Stationary Welding fume filters
Welding fume filters with a stationary set-up can be installed directly next to the processing machine and provide a direct extraction solution at welding torches.
The W3 certified MOBEX F can even be used for welding fume extraction of high-alloyed steels.
The modular welding fume filter systems WELDEX FE are ideal for large amounts of air up to 120.000 m³/h and are suitable for direct extraction of welding fumes.
The IFA-certified welding fume collectors of the DUSTMAC F series are used in a modular set-up and can be used as such in combination to create a welding fume filter system that can handle any required air volume.
WELDEX FE
Modular welding fume filter system for large volumes of air up to 120,000 m³ / h.
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Hall ventilation systems
In order to comply with legal regulations, it is in some instances indispensable to install completely integrated systems in addition to local extraction devices. In this case the free-standing Plug & Play hall ventilation system FILTOWER-F is suitable to capture welding fumes in production halls without ductwork.
Alternatively, the welding fume collector WELDEX FE has proven to be a very efficient hall ventilation system.
WELDEX FE
Modular welding fume filter system for large volumes of air up to 120,000 m³ / h.
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Filtower
Plug & Play filter towers for the capture and filtration of dust, fumes and oil mist for clean air in the machine hall.
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