Worker Exposures to Ozone and Other Contaminants During TIG and MIG Welding

Details

• Personal Author:
  Achutan, Chandran ; Burr, Gregory A. ; Sollberger, Ronald
• Description:
  NIOSH evaluations were conducted at a company producing oil coolers used in the U.S. Army main battle tank. Workers described health effects during tungsten inert gas (TIG) and metal inert gas (MIG) welding on aluminum oil coolers, including burning eyes, sore throats, headaches, sinus problems, and exhaustion. Employees were also concerned about discoloration on their welding visors. Air sampling was performed for ozone, metals (specifically aluminum), trichloroethylene (TCE, used in a nearby degreaser), and phosgene (a possible combustion product when chlorinated hydrocarbon comes in contact with a flame or very hot metal). During the initial survey the highest exposures were to ozone, ranging up to 0.7 parts per million (ppm) for short-term (5 minute) exposures, exceeding the NIOSH Ceiling Limit for ozone of 0.1 ppm. Higher concentrations were measured during MIG welding (up to 0.7 ppm) compared to TIG welding (<0.05 to 0.1 ppm). Exposures to other contaminants were well below occupational exposure limits (OELs). A brownish-red residue which accumulated on the welding visors contained iron and copper. During the follow-up survey, full-shift ozone concentrations ranged from not detected to 0.08 ppm, while short-term (5 minute) concentrations were not detectable. However, no MIG welding was performed during the follow-up survey. Detector tube samples for TCE revealed short-term concentrations ranging from 5 and 100 ppm in the vicinity of the degreaser. All other contaminant levels were below their OELs. Phosgene was not detected during either survey. Recommendations to reduce ozone exposures included installing engineering controls (more local exhaust ventilation, larger exhaust hoods, and more general room ventilation), limiting the amount of welding during a workday, and using respiratory protection while implementing these engineering or administrative controls. For the degreaser operation recommendations included performing full-shift sampling for TCE and providing additional operator training and personal protective equipment. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Engineering Environmental Monitoring Eye Foreign Bodies Hazardous Substances Irritants Metals Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Staff Development Welding

  More +
• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Air-sampling Engineering-controls Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Eye-irritants Health-hazards Inert-gases Metal-compounds Occupational-exposure Occupational-health Personal-protective-equipment Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-protection Training Tungsten-compounds Welding-industry Worker-health Workers

  More +
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  59
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026958
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 21-26, 2005, Anaheim, California. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2005 May; :59
• CAS Registry Number:
  Aluminum (CAS RN 7429-90-5) ; Ozone (CAS RN 10028-15-6) ; Phosgene (CAS RN 75-44-5) ; Trichloroethylene (CAS RN 79-01-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 21-26, 2005, Anaheim, California
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2d298ef45c37596ea1af14299d587495d6bc79d279e93494c56be87db0afec4c3b1d02fe4d2e76f8e0cb4089a9da2f5bdcccc3cad4c8adf8270fd3d9f43da9a7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/197414/cdc_197414_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.18 MB ]