Lung protction while metalworking?

[Lucas]

Blew my nose today after six hours of chopping, grinding, welding, etc. and found a lot of carbide dust, metal bits, and other generally bad things to be inhaling on the tissue.
When I work with brakes or when I'm sanding bondo I usually wear a full on respirator. I was just wondering if any of you guys used a mask or anything when in the shop.

 

[8Mud]

I wear a mask now, a pretty good 3M mask. Of course it´s way past to late, my lungs are shot. Took three boughts of pneumonia, for me to finally wise up. Copper vapor, lead vapor, cooked paint, brake dust, carbide, cadmium from galvinized pipe. Metal work and welding is hard on the old lungs.
I once had a heavy metal blood test, ended up in the hospital, drinking some really bad tasting green snot looking stuff, that made me sick as a dog.
I bug the heck out of my son, to wear his mask. He does a lot of demolition, cement dust and other crap.
I´ve gotten so I wash brakes out with really hot water and then wash them with a mild soap solution and rinse them, before I even mess with them. Doesn´t hurt thing, been doing it for over twenty years, with no problems.
I´ve got a couple of fans I keep going when welding, to move most of the fumes away from me.

 

[5-90]

Yep - that's why I keep some large fans out in the garage - setup a crossflow so that everything I'm working on doesn't get blown into my face.

If I weren't renting, I'd set up a full ventilation system that would even filter the air (for particulates) before it gets outside, but there's a limit to what you can do to a rental. I'll be building soon enough anyhow...

Be especially mindful of anything that might contain silicon - it causes silicosis, and that's LETHAL. Silicosis will kill you faster than plumbosis (heavy metal poisoning.)

5-90

 

[Lucas]

crap. I'll keep that in mind next time I take a part to the blasting cabinet. I usually have the shop vac attached but who knows how well that filters.

 

[8Mud]

crap. I'll keep that in mind next time I take a part to the blasting cabinet. I usually have the shop vac attached but who knows how well that filters.

It´s actually pretty hard to find sand for a sand blaster anymore. The non silicon based abrasives are pretty cheap. The darned paint dust and metal particales can be a problem. Aluminum and light metals aren´t supposed to be good for your either, in high doses.
It would probably be a good idea to vent the Vac outside.

 

[Root Moose]

Interesting post. Can anyone recommend a decent respirator that will fit under a welding mask?

 

[MudDawg]

Just use a Marlboro Lite for a filter....Just kidding....I'm in the same boat as 8Mud....you name it..I have been exposed.....use the best protection you can find.....if ya wanna live long enough to become old and wise....If you need glass bead....you can still get it from Grainger....Ballantini brand the last i got.

 

[Lucas]

When I weld I try not to angle my face in a way that the plume rises into the lip of the mask. An auto darkener helps a lot with this. I don't have a fan to use, but do you think putting the intake hose of the shop vac near the welding would help? How much crossflow can you have across the puddle before the shielding effect of the gass is reduced?

From now on:
filter mask when grinding, Full respirator sand blasting/brakes/bondo, try to get better ventilation while welding, though I'm starting to weld a lot outside.

 

[FarmerMatt]

Just use a Marlboro Lite for a filter....

Reds filter much better than lites...

 

[CRASH]

The trouble with venting your welding area is that you blow away your shielding gas!

 

[Lucas]

that's what I was asking earlier. Is it ok to have a slight breeze across your work area? I'm assuming it will show as pores and slag if your puddle shield is being blown away.

 

[jeannies_driver]

i used to use regular sand (when i was stupid and didn't know what silica was) for sand blasting as noone around here sold blasting sand cheap. i did however still use a respirator under my hood thankfully.

one thing i learned about lately is that you don't HAVE to use bare wire and gas for welding as most high tensile/industrial welding is done with flux core. think about it, 50 stories up isn't exactly a windless place.
i also learned from someone who welded for a lot of year's that using flux core wire is best along with running the gas, the gas may get wasted in a vented situation, but it will still help in some way in sheilding it from contamination.

as for a small respirator for under the helmet i doubt you will find any that will fit perfect. you may be able to modify one so that the filter's are extended by a hose to somewhere else like a belt clip thingy with the filter attached there. check with a local welding shop, they may have something they use but i doubt it will be cheap for a heavy duty set up like they would use ?

 

[8Mud]

I use a rather large fan, but relatively low RPM´s, three speeds. Doesn´t have to be a high wind, just enough to move most of the vapors, that would rise straight up from the heat, away from your face.
I found the better spot for a fan is slightly behind my right shoulder. Some of the air goes in the side of my mask and I get enough cross flow, to move most of the fumes away from my head. If I have to I can use my body to shield the weld some. When welding on rusty or painted metal, I turn the fan up, welds are probably gonna suck anyway, even after some grinding and clean up.
It´s not gonna be perfect, but it has to help some. Most of the damage is accumulative, may take 20 years for it to really show up.
Hard to find a mask that filters everything, some are for dust, some for certain chemicals and some for others. And some chemicals go through most any filter mask and you need a forced air mask.
Funny you´d think after years, you´d develope a tolerance, for me the opposite is true, the more exposure over the years, the more sensitive I get.

 

[QckSlvr]

hey, at my shop we use a 3m mask that is designed to filter out particulate as well as metal fumes. Cant remember the model number but we just talked with the sales rep at the BOC dealer (our welding supplier)

 

[corbinafly]

http://www.hornell.com/hsi/admain.html

Check this out. They're not cheap, but if you weld for a living or more often than every once in a while, it might be worth it.

I have one of there autodark helmets and love it.

K