The Serious Health Effects of Welding Fumes & How To Reduce Them
                     The Serious Health Effects of 
Welding Fumes & How to Reduce 
Them
Health Effects of Welding Fumes & How To 
Reduce Them
Fumes are a well-known occupational hazard that 
affects everyone doing any sort of welding or 
soldering. Welding fumes are especially hazardous, 
as more of them are produced and it’s much more 
difficult to clean them. Because it’s impossible to 
say exactly how much of each toxic or 
carcinogenic substance is in the fumes we 
breathe, it’s much more prudent to reduce the 
amount of fume exposure overall.
Health Effects of Welding Fumes
There are many different compounds, including 
heavy metals and poison gases, that are produced 
during welding. We can classify these compounds 
based on what damage they could cause. Some 
substances cause respiratory illness. Others are 
carcinogenic and are implicated in several 
different types of cancers. Then there are ones 
that can be fatal if exposed to at too high a 
concentration.
Respiratory Illness and Lung Damage
Some substances can cause serious damage to the 
lungs and respiratory organs. Symptoms of the 
respiratory illness include an itchy or sore throat, 
excessive mucus, coughing and wheezing, and 
shortness of breath. But even if these symptoms 
aren’t present, these substances can cause serious 
lung damage.
Lung and Throat Cancers
Some hazardous compounds in welding fumes 
have been implicated in causing cancers of the 
respiratory tract. As a result, it’s important to 
minimize exposure as much as possible. However, 
since there’s no way to determine how much of 
one of these substances is likely to cause cancer, 
there’s no way to determine a “safe” minimum 
exposure level.
Serious Illness and Death
There are also hazardous compounds that can 
cause complications such as pulmonary edema, 
nervous system damage, liver damage, kidney 
damage, brain damage, and Parkinson’s disease. 
Substances include a lead oxide, copper oxide, 
carbon monoxide, and phosgene.
How a Welding Fume Extractor Can Help
Welding fume extractor systems were created to 
address this very issue. The way they work is by 
sucking up the contaminated air, filtering it, then 
blowing the clean air into the room. The hazardous 
substances are caught in the filters which are built 
specifically for these kinds of compounds.
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