Designing, Constructing and Installing a Local Exhaust Ventilation System to Minimize Welders' Exposure to Welding Fumes

Zare, Sajad; Sahranavard, Yaser; Ali Hakimi, Hossein; Bateni, Mokhles; Karami, Masoumeh; Hemmatjo, Rasoul

doi:10.29252/ArchHygSci.6.4.356

Volume 6, Issue 4 (Autumn 2017) Arch Hyg Sci 2017, 6(4): 356-362 | Back to browse issues page

‎ 10.29252/ArchHygSci.6.4.356

‎ 20.1001.1.22519203.2017.6.4.1.3

Mendeley

Zotero

RefWorks

Zare S, Sahranavard Y, Ali Hakimi H, Bateni M, Karami M, Hemmatjo R. Designing, Constructing and Installing a Local Exhaust Ventilation System to Minimize Welders' Exposure to Welding Fumes. Arch Hyg Sci 2017; 6 (4) :356-362
URL: http://jhygiene.muq.ac.ir/article-1-251-en.html

Designing, Constructing and Installing a Local Exhaust Ventilation System to Minimize Welders' Exposure to Welding Fumes

Sajad Zare¹

, Yaser Sahranavard ^*

², Hossein Ali Hakimi³

, Mokhles Bateni⁴

, Masoumeh Karami³

, Rasoul Hemmatjo⁵

1- Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
2- Health and Safety Executive Unit, Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex, Rafsanjan, Kerman, Iran.
3- Health and Safety Executive Unit, Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex, Rafsanjan, Kerman, Iran
4- Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman
5- Department of Occupational Health, School of Health, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran

Abstract: (4893 Views)

Background & Aims of the Study: Welder’s exposure to welding fumes can cause occupational diseases. The current study sought to examine exposure to welding fumes among welders who work in the repair shop of Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex and design a local exhaust ventilation system to control exposure to welding fumes.
Materials & Methods: This applied analytical study was conducted in the summer of 2016 among welders working in the repair shop of Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex. The study comprised three phases; in the first one, welders’ exposure to welding fumes was assessed at the beginning of the study. After that, a local exhaust ventilation system was designed and installed in the aforementioned repair shop. In the final stage, welders’ exposure to welding fumes was assessed again after installation of the ventilation system. The procedure recommended by NIOSH (method number 7300) was used for individual sampling of welders.
Results: Based on the obtained findings, before installing the ventilation system, welding technicians were exposed to 0.3 mg/m³ of copper fumes and 0.04 mg/m³ of chromium fumes. Journeyman welders were also exposed to 2.16 mg/m³ of manganese fumes, while stellar welders were exposed to 6.9 mg/m³ of iron fumes. In the light of these measurements, a local exhaust ventilation system was designed and installed. Subsequently, measurement of exposure to welding fumes showed a significant reduction. That is, welding technicians were exposed to 0.17 mg/m³ and 0.015 mg/m³ of copper and chromium fumes respectively. Additionally, journeyman welders were exposed to 0.86 mg/m³ of manganese fumes, whereas stellar welders were exposed to 4.3 mg/m³ of iron fumes.

Conclusions: A comparison of standard limits of exposure to welding fumes and the results obtained from measurements in sampling stations before and after the installation of the local exhaust ventilation system reveals that this controlling measure was very effective in the repair shop of Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex.

Keywords: Fume, local exhaust ventilation, occupational exposure, welding, Sarcheshmeh Copper complex, Iran

Full-Text [PDF 562 kb] (1560 Downloads) | | Full-Text (HTML) (1275 Views)

Type of Study: Original Article | Subject: Occuptional Health
Received: 2017/05/8 | Accepted: 2017/09/21 | Published: 2017/09/30

References

1. Pournajaf A, Nasary Y. Desigen and invention of semiautomatic weld mask capable to protect visual and respiratory systems against metal vapour and radiations caused by welding. J Ilam Univ Med Sci 2007;15(2):26-31. (Full Text in Persian)

2. Golbabaei F, Ghahri A, Mehdi Zadeh M, Ghiyasuddin M, Mahajer K, Eskandari D. Risk assessment of welders' exposure to total fume in an automobile industry. J Health Safe Work 2012;1(1):9-18. (Full Text in Persian)

3. Lehnert M, Pesch B, Lotz A, Pelzer J, Kendzia B, Gawrych K, et al. Exposure to inhalable, respirable, and ultrafine particles in welding fume. Ann Occup Hyg 2012;56(5):557-67.

4. Flynn MR, Susi P. Engineering controls for selected silica and dust exposures in the construction industry-a review. Appl Occup Environ Hyg 2003;18(4):268-277. [DOI:10.1080/10473220301406]

5. Amani F, Bahadoram M, Hazrati S. Evaluation of occupational injuries among welders in Northwest Iran. J Prevent Epidemiol 2017;2(2):1-5.

6. Golbabaei F, Khadem M. Air Pollution in Welding Processes-Assessment and Control Methods.Curr Air Qual Issues 2015. [DOI:10.5772/59793]

7. Cosgrove M. Arc welding and airway disease. Weld World 2015;59(1):1-7. [DOI:10.1007/s40194-014-0172-5]

8. Li H, Chen Q, Li S, Yao W, Li L, Shi X, et al. Effect of Cr (VI) exposure on sperm quality: human and animal studies. Ann Occup Hyg 2001;45(7):505-11. [DOI:10.1016/S0003-4878(01)00004-7]

9. Bonthoux F. Factors Affecting the Capture Efficiency of a Fume Extraction Torch for Gas Metal Arc Welding. nn Occup Hyg 2016;60(6):761-770. [DOI:10.1093/annhyg/mew016]

10. Popović O, Prokić-Cvetković R, Burzić M, Lukić U, Beljić B. Fume and gas emission during arc welding: Hazards and recommendation. Renew Sustain Energy Reviews 2014;37:509-16. [DOI:10.1016/j.rser.2014.05.076]

11. Zaidi S, Sathawara N, Kumar S, Gandhi S, Parmar C, Saiyed H. Development of indigenous local exhaust ventilation system: reduction of welders exposure to welding fumes. J Occup Health 2004;46(4):323-8. [DOI:10.1539/joh.46.323]

12. Kapanen P, Linnainmaa M, Kalliokoski P, Kokotti H. Control of exposure to welding fumes by ventilation and helmet pressurisation. In Proceedings of Ventilation 2000, 6th International Symposium on Ventilation for Contaminant Control, Helsinki, 4-7 June 2000, p. 197-199.

13. Wang H-Q, Huang C-H, Liu D, Zhao F-Y, Sun H-B, Wang F-F, et al. Fume transports in a high rise industrial welding hall with displacement ventilation system and individual ventilation units. Build Environ 2012;52:119-28. [DOI:10.1016/j.buildenv.2011.11.004]

14. Iwasaki T, Fujishiro Y, Kubota Y, Ojima J, Shibata N. Some engineering countermeasures to reduce exposure to welding fumes and gases avoiding occurrence of blow holes in welded material. Ind Health 2005;43(2):351-7. [DOI:10.2486/indhealth.43.351]

15. Immigration. GoA-Ea. Welder's Guide to the Hazardsof Welding Gases and Fumes Canada: Workplace Health and Safety Bulletin; 2009.

16. Chevron MCBU. Confined Space Entry. USA: HSE CNC-H; 2015.

17. Yarmohammadi H, Hamidvand E, Abdollahzadeh D, Sohrabi Y, Poursadeghiyan M, Biglari HEbrahimi MH. Measuring Concentration of Welding Fumes in Respiratory Zones of Welders: An Ergo-Toxicological Approach. Res J Med Sci 2016;10(3):111-5.

18. OSHA. Personal Sampling for Air Contaminants. USA: Department of Labor W, OSHA; D. OSHA Technical Manual; 1999.

19. Health ID. Education and Welfare CN. Education and Information Division. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Occupational Exposure Sampling Strategy Manual; 1977.

20. Hariri A, Yusof MZ, Leman AM. Sampling method for welding fumes and toxic gases in Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Energy Environ Res 2012;2(2):1-8. [DOI:10.5539/eer.v2n2p13]

21. ACGIH. TLVs and BEIs Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents & Biological Exposure Indices; 2011.

22. ACGIH. Industrial ventilation a manual of recommended practice. Cincinnati. 3rd ed. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists; 1998.

23. Moradpor Z, Khakbaz Gh, Hesam Gh. Design and implementation of local ventilation system on the dust control in the cramp unit of industrial poultry slaughterhouse. J Sabzevar Univ Med Sci 2015;22(3):342-9. (Full Text in Persian)

24. Fiore SR. Reducing exposure to hexavalent chromium in welding fumes. Welding J 2006;85(8):38-42.

25. Meeker JD, Susi P, Flynn MR. Hexavalent chromium exposure and control in welding tasks. J Occup Environ Hyg 2010;7(11):607-15. [DOI:10.1080/15459624.2010.510105]

26. Meeker JD, Susi P, Flynn MR. Manganese and welding fume exposure and control in construction. J Occup Environ Hyg 2007;4(12):943-51. [DOI:10.1080/15459620701718867]

27. Hosseini MS, Safari-Variani A, Mehdipoor H, Hosseini M. Design, construction, and evaluation of portable local exhaust ventilation system to control electrosurgery smokes. J Qazvin Univ Med Sci 2012;16(1):7279. (Full Text in Persian)