Workers in the manufacturing and metalworking sectors are exposed to toxic chemical emissions and airborne particles. Aluminium welding fumes in these sectors pose a serious threat to worker health due to prolonged exposure. Regulatory authorities have proposed changes to permissible aluminium welding fume standards to address these safety concerns. This blog post will dig deeper into what aluminium fumes are and why they pose serious health threats to workers.
What Are Aluminium Welding Fumes?
Aluminum is a common metal used in many sectors, including automobiles, trucks, and aerospace. As a result, the emission of welding fumes has become a common phenomenon. When heated above the boiling point, the metal releases white fumes containing ozone and aluminium oxide. Both of these gases are toxic, posing adverse health effects. Therefore, proper safety measures are crucial to maintaining the health of workers and preventing respiratory and lung diseases and neurological issues.
Why Is It Hazardous?
- Welding is a thermal process that emits tiny, inhalable particles into the air. These welding fumes have varying compositions, and the materials and metals involved determine the specific health risks. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), welding fumes consist of particles smaller than 1 micron, which are inhalable and carcinogenic.
- Aluminium reacts with oxygen in the environment, forming a lung irritant called aluminium oxide. Prolonged exposure to the substance causes lung inflammation and respiratory issues.
- There is the presence of toxic elements like cadmium and manganese. During welding, these additional elements release toxic fumes with adverse health impacts. For example, exposure to manganese fumes can lead to neurological issues.
- Metal fume fever is one of the health risks of prolonged exposure to welding fumes in occupational settings. It is a flu-like illness caused by inhaling metals and metal oxides. The symptoms include fever, cough, and muscle cramps. Metal fume fever is acute and resolves on its own once the exposure is reduced.
What Are The Control Measures?
The current Workplace Exposure Standard is 5 mg/m³. However, given the adverse health effects of exposure to aluminium welding fumes in occupational settings and to address worker safety concerns, Safe Work Australia proposed a recommendation to set the standard to 1 mg/m³.
Apart from compliance with the exposure standard, such occupational environments should have a proper control strategy in place to mitigate fume exposure and health risks. Let’s go through some actions that employers can implement to provide a safe working environment to their workers:
- The installation of air quality monitors helps determine the level of contaminants and emissions in the working environment, enabling employers to devise a proper and effective fume mitigation map.
- Air purifiers and dust capture systems, such as DFI and industrial-grade air purifiers from Euromate Pure Air, are adequate measures to control the spread of these airborne fumes. Moreover, these facilities are often tightly closed without adequate ventilation. Therefore, having mechanical ventilation systems in place is the only option to dilute the concentration of toxic particulates in the environment and keep welding fumes out of the breathing zone.
If the above-mentioned actions cannot meet the permissible exposure limit (PEL), the additional requirement for workers to wear a personal protective gear in high-exposure areas is necessary.
How Euromate Pure Air Can Help
Euromate Pure Air has time and again highlighted the importance of indoor air quality and how it is essential for the well-being of every human being. We have also repeatedly emphasized the critical nature of workers in the field and high-risk industries, such as metalworking. Workers in such settings are frequently exposed to highly contaminated indoor air, which leaves devastating effects on their physical and mental health. Therefore, we encourage employers and business owners to deploy our air purification systems across their facilities to improve worker safety. Our range of air purifiers includes systems to ventilate, capture dust, remove airborne particles, and improve indoor air quality. Check out our products, and feel free to reach out with any queries.
