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General information on welding processes and welding emissions
Many industrial and manufacturing facilities regularly use a variety of welding processes and materials. According to Golbabaei and Khadem, factors such as the welding process, welding parameters (current, voltage, shielding gas and shielding gas flow), base metal and other consumables influence the production of welding emissions.
Each welding process produces a distinctive range of particulate composition and morphology. The main components of welding emissions are oxides of metals caused by contact between the oxygen in the air and the vaporized metals. See tables below for listings of many welding processes and welding emissions.
Welding processes |
| Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) |
| Flux cored arc welding (FCAW) |
| Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) |
| Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) |
| Submerged arc welding (SAW) |
| Pulse arc welding |
| Brazing |
Welding emissions:
Metals (particulates) | Gases |
| *chromium | carbon monoxide |
| *lead | oxides of nitrogen |
| *nickel | ozone |
| zinc | |
| iron oxide | |
| copper | |
| *cadmium | |
| fluorides | |
| *manganese | |
| *cobalt |
* Heavy metals considered to be hazardous air pollutants (U.S. EPA, Development of Particulate and Hazardous Emission Factors for Electric Arc Welding). These substances have been designated by CARB to be a toxic air contaminant pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 39657.
Citations:
Farideh Golbabaei and Monireh Khadem (October 21st 2015). Air Pollution in Welding Processes — Assessment and Control Methods, Current Air Quality Issues, Farhad Nejadkoorki, IntechOpen, DOI: 10.5772/59793. Available from: https://www.intechopen.com/books/current-air-quality-issues/air-polluti…
U.S. EPA (1994). Development of Particulate and Hazardous Emission Factors for Electric Arc Welding(AP-42, Section 12.19).https://www3.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch12/bgdocs/b12s19.pdf