Metal working safety

[steverino101]

i've known a lot of welders, and i don't recall ever hearing about this before. why would it be a moneymaker for your lawyers?

 

[Loadstar]

You can make a hood or exhaust system very easily. Just remember with air you must replace what you take out. More air moving can get costly because you need to condition incoming air unless of course you have no heat or AC. you can probably find an old air handler/furnace with a good blower and localize your fume extraction for potentially less than $200. Just a thought.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

"Studies have shown manganese fumes from welding can cause parkinsons disease."

Strange. Seems to be quite a few actors in Hollywood who have Parkinson's and they darn sure never set foot in a welding shop, much less worked in one.

 

[OutbackL130]

When you google manganism, this is one of the first links to come up.

Manganism or Manganese Poisoning

At first glance it appears to be an informative website on the hazards of welding fumes, but then if you look in the upper left corner of the page notice the logo shows that the website is setup by a law office.

Reading that website scares the sh** out of me knowing I've been welding for 7 years without knowing the risk for developing parkinson disease.


The thing is if you google rare diseases, for example bacterial meningitis, you will find many stories of people who experienced the disease. When I google manganism there are no first hand stories from patients. It just does not seem as common as the propaganda websites make it seem.

Do any of you long time welders know coworkers who developed manganism or parkinsons disease?

Reguardless, I'm heading to the welding supply store to pickup a 3m 7502 respirator with 2091 cartridges and will wear is for welding and grinding.

 

[OutbackL130]

i've known a lot of welders, and i don't recall ever hearing about this before. why would it be a moneymaker for your lawyers?

Sorry that was a typo. I didnt mean to type "my" lawyers it was supposed to say "by" lawyers.


"How much truth is there to this or is it mostly just propaganda brought on by lawyers trying to make money?"

 

[Loadstar]

I'm sure it's not good for you. Nothing wrong with adequate ventilation, being conscious and minimize what your exposed to.

 

[tcartwri]

The conditions you are talking about are extremely rare, and occur in the general population at the same rate. Ventilation is always a good idea, for whatever process you are doing.

 

[tcartwri]

There is actually more, much more, implications to your health from handling gasoline, and yet no one worries one bit about getting that splashed on your skin. In your area, Radon poisoning is many many more times problematic that welding fumes.

 

[OutbackL130]

I want to improve the venitilation in my shop, but the challenge is making sure its done adequately. I have to decide on local fume extraction or general ventiliation and how to build the system properly. Plus heating my uninsulated shop during winter with exhaust fans or fume extractors going will be impossible.

Will osha come out to a 2 man operation to advise on safety?

 

[OutbackL130]

I gave the 3m respirator a try while using the chop saw and after 7 minutes I had to take it off. It pulls down hard on the end of my nose, it interferes with my safety glasses leaveing a gap where a hot piece of metal can easily slip through into my eyes, and the inside of the mask fills up with moisture.


Seriously do welders really wear these respirators for 10 hours a day?


Think I'm going to make something like this over my welding table using a squirrel cage extractor fan.