What are the hazards of electric welding

Electric welder is a relatively common profession and is widely used in many industries such as construction. As a welder, you must strengthen labor protection at work. After all, this profession has certain hazards. If you do not strengthen protection in normal times, it is easy to cause pneumoconiosis and chronic poisoning. After all, electric welding contains some heavy metals. Let us learn about this aspect.

What are the hazards of electric welding?

1. Pneumoconiosis

Electric welding fume is the main cause of pneumoconiosis, and its composition varies depending on the welding rod used. The welding rod consists of a welding core and a coating. The welding core contains a large amount of iron, carbon, manganese, silicon, chromium, nickel, zinc, lead, sulfur and phosphorus; the materials in the coating are mainly marble, fluorite, rutile, pure salt, water glass, ferromanganese, etc. During welding, the arc discharge reaches a high temperature of 4000-6000℃, generating a large amount of smoke (the main components are iron oxide, manganese oxide, silicon dioxide, silicates, etc.), which diffuses in the working environment and can be easily inhaled into the lungs. Long-term inhalation can cause fibrous lesions of lung tissue, namely welder's pneumoconiosis, and is often accompanied by complications such as manganese poisoning, fluoride poisoning and metal fume fever. The patients mainly show respiratory symptoms such as chest tightness, chest pain, shortness of breath, cough, accompanied by headache, general weakness and other symptoms. The lung's breathing function is also damaged to a certain extent. Pneumoconiosis is a very serious occupational disease and there is no cure for it yet.

2. Chronic poisoning

If workers accumulate excessive smoke containing manganese, lead and other substances in their bodies during long-term electric welding work, it will cause chronic manganese poisoning and lead poisoning, leading to damage to the nervous system and causing symptoms such as peripheral neuritis, memory loss, mental abnormalities, and emotional instability. In severe cases, the limbs become weak and walking becomes difficult. Some data show that manganese poisoning causes some people who have been engaged in electric welding for a long time to suffer from Parkinson's disease. An investigation of the workers found that electric welding also has an impact on the reproductive system. Female workers experience menstrual abnormalities, premature births, and miscarriages, and male workers have a lower sperm survival rate than ordinary people.

3. Welding fume syndrome

Welding fume heat is a type of metal fume heat. A large amount of metal smoke and heat is generated during welding. When welders inhale metal oxide fumes, their body temperature rises sharply and the number of blood cells in the body's periphery increases, which can cause systemic diseases. After 6 to 12 hours of exposure to metal fumes, they will experience dizziness, fatigue, chest tightness, shortness of breath, muscle and joint pain, followed by fever and an increase in white blood cells. In severe cases, they may develop chills and tremors.

4. Hazards of toxic gases

Under the high temperature and strong ultraviolet rays generated by the welding arc, a large amount of toxic gases, such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, will be produced in the surrounding area.

1) Ozone is a colorless, harmful gas with a special pungent odor. It has a strong irritating effect on the respiratory mucosa and lungs. Short-term inhalation of low concentration (0.4 mg/m3) of ozone can cause symptoms such as coughing, dry throat, chest tightness, loss of appetite, fatigue and weakness. Long-term inhalation of low-concentration ozone can cause bronchitis, emphysema, pulmonary sclerosis, etc.

2) Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, non-irritating gas that easily combines with hemoglobin, which transports oxygen in the human body, and is extremely difficult to separate. Therefore, when a large amount of hemoglobin combines with carbon monoxide, oxygen loses the opportunity to combine with hemoglobin, causing the body's function of transporting and utilizing oxygen to be impaired, causing human tissues to necrotize due to lack of oxygen.

3) Nitrogen oxides are toxic gases with a pungent odor. Among them, the nitrogen oxides that we are most often exposed to are mainly nitrogen dioxide. It is a reddish-brown gas with a peculiar odor. When inhaled, it passes through the upper respiratory tract, enters the alveoli, and gradually reacts with water to form nitric acid and nitrous acid, which severely irritate and corrode the lung tissue, causing pulmonary edema.

5. Hazards of arc radiation

The arc light generated by welding mainly includes infrared, visible light and ultraviolet light. Among them, ultraviolet rays mainly cause harm to the human body through photochemical reactions. It damages the eyes and exposed skin, causing keratoconjunctivitis (electric eye), chronic blepharitis, lens opacities, and cutaneous erythema. The main symptoms are eye pain, photophobia, tearing, and eyelid redness, swelling and spasm. After being exposed to ultraviolet rays, the skin may develop edematous erythema with clear boundaries. In severe cases, blisters, exudate and edema may appear, and there may be an obvious burning sensation.