HOW MUCH
WELDING FUME
DOES A WELDER
BREATHE?
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breathes around 7-8
litres of air per minute. A
welder will typically breathe around
20 litres of air per minute according
to information released by the
Australian Welding Society.
That fact alone tells you that
welding is most certainly a physical
profession. In a year, this means a
welder will breathe approximately
2,300m3 of air. Knowing how
many cubic metres of air a welder
breathes per year allows us to
calculate the quantity of welding
fume an unprotected welder
breathes in each year while working
within the workplace exposure limits
set by Safe Work Australia. We’ll
then let you decide whether you
think welding unprotected within the
guidelines is the right move for you.
The current Australian workplace
exposure limit for general welding
fume is 5 mg/m3 TWA (Time
Weighted Average). This means
that the maximum average airborne
concentration of total welding fume
when calculated over an 8-hour
working day, over a five-day working
week, must not exceed 5 milligrams
of substance per cubic metre of
air in the breathing zone (inside the
welder’s welding helmet when worn).
Therefore, if a welder breathes
2,300m3 of air with 5mg of welding
fume per cubic metre of air the
welder may inhale up to 11.5 grams
of welding fume per year. So, year
on year, an unprotected welder
operating within the workplace
exposure limits can inhale up to
11 grams of a now known and
classified carcinogen.
Welding and cancer
The incidence of cancer is usually
dose related meaning that the
greater the exposure to the
carcinogen, the higher the risk of
developing the cancer associated
with that substance or mixture.
Conversely, the smaller the
exposure, the lower the probability
of developing cance. Welding
fume was recently reclassified as
a carcinogen, meaning that there
is sufficient evidence to establish
a relationship between human
exposure to this substance and the
development of cancer”.
Therefore, the question remains,
is welding unprotected within the
Australian workplace exposure limits
suitable for you? Is 11 grams of a
known carcinogen too much?
Powered air purifying
respiratory protection
A Powered Air Purifying Respirator
or PAPR for short, like the Adflo
PAPR connected to a Speedglas
welding helmet reduces the
welder’s exposure to 1/50th. If
you, like many welders out there
currently wear a disposable
respirator or reusable respirator
under your welding helmet you
may be surprised to hear that a
powered air respirator will give
you five times the reduction in
exposure to welding fume than
what you are currently using.
By making the switch you can
increase your comfort and
reduce your exposure to a known
carcinogen.
A number of large Australian
companies are now changing their
stance on PPE for welders after
the reclassification of welding fume
by the IARC. Many companies are
now strengthening their controls
by enforcing the use of powered
air purifying respirators (PAPR) to
reduce welding fume exposure to
“as low as reasonably practicable”.
28 July 2019