The Health Risk of Breathing in Welding Fumes

Welding fumes are very fine particles of metal oxides, and their composition depends on the type of metal being welded. In addition to the general harm of welding fumes once trapped in the lungs, some metal fumes are particularly hazardous, such as nickel, chromium, and manganese. Exposure to welding fumes can cause Pneumonia, Metal Fume Fever, Asthma, COPD, cancer, etc. In fact, welding fumes caused cancer is one of the top 10 occupational cancers in Australia.

Nevertheless, welding is one of the most common activities carried out in the industry, such as in shipyards, construction, automotive, aerospace, and maintenance. Hence, a significant number of workers are potentially exposed to welding fumes, and effective actions are needed for their protection.

To address this serious work health issue, the Australian government has implemented a new workplace exposure standard (WES) for welding fumes to better protect workers: from the previous 5 mg/m3 to the current 1 mg/m3.

Options for the Protection

There are two main options:

• Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV): Install and use LEV as much as practicable.
• Use effective Respiratory Protection Equipment (RPE)

The safest and best practice is to have both at the same time.

What Kind of RPE Should Be Used in Conjunction with a Welding Helmet/Lens?

Due to the fine particles from welding fumes, N95-grade disposable masks are considered inadequate.

An elastomeric Non-powered Air-purifying Respirator (NAPR) is better than a disposable mask, as the softer cushion of the elastomeric mask provides a better seal. However, being a negative pressure mask is inherently sensitive to facial leaks thus making the protection still not reliable enough. In addition, most NAPRs have bulky filters on the body of the masks, which may interfere with the lens of the helmet. NAPRs are also uncomfortable to breathe over long working hours, as the filters impose an extra burden to breathe, especially in hot conditions.

The new WES for welding fumes will most likely demand the use of a Powered Air-purifying Respirator (PAPR) to be compliant in many welding sites where LEV measures are either impractical or insufficient.

Lastly, welding fumes are accumulative in the lungs, and the tightened 1mg/m3 limit does not mean it is a safe limit, it is only a legal maximum upper limit to be taken as a starting point. So if welding is part of your regular work, the safest approach is to always wear the best welding mask respirator available.

Considering all the above, a welding helmet in combination with a suitable Powered Air-purifying Respirator (PAPR) is the best option for welding protection. This is because:

• PAPR has higher protection than negative pressure respirators due to positive pressure inside the mask.
• Breathing is easier and cooler in hot conditions thus more comfortable to wear doing the tough welding work.

Currently, a popular option consists of a Welding Helmet with an Integrated Loose-fitting Powered Air-purifying Respirator. With this option, the helmet is specially made and has an air entry at the back of the helmet to receive the air produced by a PAPR that is mounted at the back of the waist and secured by a belt, with filtered air being delivered via a hose to the helmet. A popular brand of this option is 3M Speedglas Welding Helmet 9100XXi Air plus Adflo PAPR.

However, there are a few issues with this option: 

• Protection level is not the highest in class: As it is a loose-fitting PAPR, the nominal protection factor is 500 compared with a tight-fitting PAPR of 2000.
• Expensive: at a retail price starting around $2,000.
• If you have a common welding helmet already, adding such a PAPR protection means you have to scrap your old mate: a waste of money and not good for the environment.
• Troublesome to wear with poor mobility due to the bulky PAPR unit and the long hose at the back.
• Noisy, as the Adflo PAPR operates at a constant flow, meaning constant annoying noise.

AYO WX-Welding Mask PAPR P3 – The Perfect Solution for Welding Fume Protection

Invented, designed, and fine-tuned in Australia, AYO WX – Welding Half Mask Respirator is a state-of-the-art Breath-responsive PAPR that suits welding fume protection extremely well due to the following advantages over the 3M Speedglas – Adflo PAPR system:

• Best-in-class protection: being a tight-fitting mask, its nominal protection factor exceeds 2000 (PAPR P3) compared to the 3M Speedglas – Adflo Loose-fitting PAPR system of 500.
• Fraction of the cost: $559 vs $2,000 for the 3M Speedglas system
• A low-profile half mask designed specifically compatible with most common welding helmets plus a neck-peripheral mounted AYO WX PAPR P3 main unit: beneficial to many welders who currently have a common welding helmet already, but now wish to use a PAPR for better respiratory protection.
• Much improved mobility and comfort: No hose, no belt, no face fabric, and lighter.
• Aimwell’s intelligent breath-responsive flow control algorithm ensures positive pressure inside the mask at all times with peak flow exceeding 200 L/min while keeping the noise to a minimum during exhalation and late stage of each inhalation.
• Longer battery run-time: 16 hours vs 3M Adflo PAPR of 12 hours.
• Service life: >10 years vs 3M Adflo PAPR of 5 years.

In Summary:

Welding Protection Consideration	Spleedglas + Adflo (Loose-Fitting PAPR)	AYO WX-Welding (Tight-fitting PAPR P3)
Nominal Protection Factor	500	2000
Expense	$2000	$559 (reuse existing helmet)
Mobility and Comfort	Heavy and bulky PAPR (1.65Kg), plus troublesome Long hose	Light-weight and low-profile PAPR (0.5Kg) No hose
Peak flow	200 L/min	200 L/min
Noise level	Constant annoying noise	Very quiet most of the time
Battery Run-time	Up to 12 hours	Up to 16 hours
Service life	5 years	10 years

AYO WX-Welding PAPR P3 – A New Standard in Welding Fume Protection.
Quick Steps to Use AYO WX-Welding PAPR P3 with a Common Welding Helmet

• Charge the battery before use.
• Fit the mask assembly over the face first and tighten the strap at the back of the neck.
• Remove the Guard Link from the Main Unit, Press the On/Off button, hold the Filter side in the left hand, and Control side in the right hand, then slide the Main Unit down against the back of your head until it rests on the two supporting hooks of the head strap.
• Push-fit the mask to each end of the Main Unit.
• Pull the buckles of the head strap over the rubber neck pad.
• Put on the Welding Helmet.
• Then breathe and off you go!

When it comes to half-face respiratory protection from dust, typically there are 3 options:

1. Disposable paper mask, commonly N95 paper mask or filtering facepiece respirator (FFR).
2. Elastomeric reusable non-powered air-purifying respirator (NAPR).
3. Powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR).

Option 1 is the most common type of respirator, where the ‘Cup’ shaped mask is made of non-woven filter media and thus functions both as a barrier and as an air filter.

It is simple, light, low-profile, and can be mass-produced efficiently; however, it has the following key drawbacks:

• The seal is prone to leak, as the facial contact is made from non-woven fiber that is not elastic with a low fit factor and cannot maintain a reliable seal with facial movement.
• Typically, P2 grade is most practical from a flow resistance point of view due to the limited effective usable area of the mask, and P3 grade media will likely make it too restrictive to breathe comfortably.
• The Assigned Protection Factor (APF) is only 10 for P2 FFR. For hazardous dust such as welding fumes, it is considered inadequate.
• It is a disposable type and is not designed for reuse. Outside dust tends to accumulate around the mask seal due to negative pressure inside the mask, making it dirty to reuse the next day. Your breath will also contaminate the filter media with moisture and smell, increasing flow resistance to breathe against, and allowing bacteria to grow. Depending on how dusty and physical exertion is, it may need to be replaced in a few hours or daily.
• You must be clean-shaven.

Option 2 improves some drawbacks of Option 1, where:

• The elastomeric cushion improves the fit factor and seal during use.
• The filter and the elastomeric mask are reusable, making it environmentally friendly and potentially saving costs for frequent use in dusty environments.

However, Option 2 still has the following drawbacks:

• Although the flow resistance of the filter of a NAPR can be made lower by making the filter cartridge bigger, being a negative pressure respirator, the APF is still at 10 regardless of whether a P3 grade filter is used.
• Being a negative pressure respirator, your lungs are still burdened by the flow resistance of the filter, making it not very suitable for high exertion work, as the flow resistance is proportional to the flow rate which is determined by the level of exertion of the work involved.
• You must be clean-shaven to ensure the expected protection, and you are also recommended to do annual fit testing to make sure the fit factor is still adequate.

Option 3 improves most of the drawbacks of Option 2, where:

• There is no flow resistance when the pressure inside the mask is positive, which is the case in normal and non-high exertion work where the flow rate from breathing is within the flow capacity of the PAPR.
• Higher APF can be achieved up to 1000.
• You may be able to keep a short and well-trimmed beard, provided you do fit testing at least once to make sure a fit factor of over 1000.

So based on the above comparison, PAPRs are the best option as far as protection is concerned.

However, not all PAPRs are equal:

• • They vary with APF levels, some are not significantly higher than a NAPR, such as a loose-fitting PAPR.
  • Other factors such as wearability, mobility, flow capability, and cost will affect whether a particular PAPR is suitable for a given work.

Here is a comparison of popular types of PAPRs on the market for dust protection:

From the table above, AYO WX is a clear winner among common PAPRs on the market in terms of overall performance for dust protection.

You may wonder why AYO WX comes only at a fraction of the cost of most PAPRs while achieving the highest protection on the market.

You can better appreciate it with our mission as a company: to make you breathe safer and better. We mean it by striving to innovate the technology, the design, and the manufacturing process to make the product work better and cost less.

In the case of AYO WX, firstly the technology used is unique and among the most advanced in the world, then we went a step further to make the overall product cost less by optimizing the design for a low-cost manufacturing process, and we went even further to make the running cost very low by providing an unconventional pleated pre-filter not seen in other respirators.

As a result, the running cost of AYO WX is so low, that within 12 months, its total cost after purchase will be less than that for a common NAPR.

In summary, AYO WX PAPR has the following properties:

• • Best-in-class protection and lowest-in-class cost.
  • Great wearability and mobility – can be worn just like a common NAPR.
  • Comfortable to breathe – once you use AYO WX, you will not want to go back to NAPR.
  • Suitable for wearing under a shower.
  • Easy to clean and maintain – flush wash compatible.
  • Less demanding on clean-shaven.
  • Cheaper than using a NAPR.
  • So if you are looking for the best half-face respirator for dust protection, look no further than AYO WX PAPR.

AYO WX is ideal for protecting the following: Asbestos, silica dust, metalliferous dust, powder coating dust, coal dust, and sawdust.

Upgrade from NAPR to AYO WX PAPR now for better protection, better comfort, and cost savings.