Exposure to Elemental Constituents of Metal Fumes Generated from Flux-Cored Arc Welding and Gas Metal Arc Welding of Low-Carbon Steel and Galvanized Steel
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the level of metal fume exposure, the characteristics of metal fumes, and the elemental composition and concentrations of hazardous metal fumes generated from welding low-carbon steel and galvanized steel using Flux-Cored Arc Welding (FCAW) and Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW). Personal breathing zone samples were collected, and the total metal fume concentration was determined by gravimetric analysis. Fume morphology was examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), elemental identification was performed using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), and quantitative elemental analysis was conducted using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results indicated that FCAW on galvanized steel produced the highest average metal fume concentration (3.24 ± 0.52 mg/m³), followed by GMAW on zinc-coated steel (2.73 ± 0.39 mg/m³), both of which were higher than those measured during the welding of carbon steel. The metal fumes exhibited predominantly spherical particles with sizes ranging from 1.027 to 1.474 µm. Fumes generated from zinc-coated steel consisted of both micron-sized (>1.0 µm) and nanoscale (<1.0 µm) particles, with sizes ranging from 0.168 to 1.753 µm. XRF analysis showed iron (Fe) to be the principal elemental component. ICP-MS results further revealed that FCAW on galvanized steel generated the highest total metal fume concentration (11.473 mg/m³), with the three most abundant elements being iron (Fe) (7.968 mg/m³), zinc (Zn) (2.468 mg/m³), and silver (Ag) (0.344 mg/m³), respectively. These findings highlight that both the type of base metal and the welding process significantly influence the elemental composition and concentration of metal fumes
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The content and information in the articles published in the Journal of Science and Technology, Sisaket Rajabhat University reflect the opinions and responsibilities of the respective authors. The editorial board of the journal does not necessarily agree with, nor share responsibility for, these views.
Articles, information, content, images, etc., published in the Journal of Science and Technology, Sisaket Rajabhat University are copyrighted by the Faculty of Science and Technology, Sisaket Rajabhat University. If any individual or organization wishes to republish all or part of the content, or use it for any other purpose, they must obtain written permission from the Journal of Science and Technology, Sisaket Rajabhat University beforehand.
References
Aschner, M., Erikson, K. M., Hernández, E. H., & Tjalkens, R. (2009). Manganese and its role in Parkinson’s disease: from transport to neuropathology. Neuromolecular medicine, 11(4), 252-266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12017-009-8083-0
Banerjee, K. K., Wang, H., & Pisaniello, D. (2006). Iron-ore dust and its health impacts. Environmental Health, 6(1), 11-16.
Brozek-Mucha, Z. (2015). Chemical and physical characterisation of welding fume particles for distinguishing from gunshot residue. Forensic Science International, 254, 51-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2015.06.033
Cao, R., Chang, J. H., Huang, Q., Zhang, X. B., Yan, Y. J., & Chen, J. H. (2018). Behaviors and effects of Zn coating on welding-brazing process of Al-Steel and Mg-steel dissimilar metals. Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 31, 674-688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2018.01.001
Chae, H., Kim, C., Kim, J., & Rhee, S. (2006). Fume generation behaviors in short circuit mode during gas metal arc welding and flux cored arc welding. Materials transactions, 47(7), 1859-1863. https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.47.1859
Cohen, L. E., Spurlock, R., Salem, A., & Mercado, E. (2004). Argyria in the silver state. Federal Practitioner, 21(9), 36-38.
DesMarias, T. L., & Costa, M. (2019). Mechanisms of chromium-induced toxicity. Current opinion in toxicology, 14, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cotox.2019.05.003
Duda-Chodak, A., & Blaszczyk, U. (2008). The impact of nickel on human health. Journal of elementology, 13(4), 685-693.
García-Esquinas, E., Pollan, M., Tellez-Plaza, M., Francesconi, K. A., Goessler, W., Guallar, E., Umans, J.G., Yeh, J., Best, L.G., & Navas-Acien, A. (2014). Cadmium exposure and cancer mortality in a prospective cohort: the strong heart study. Environmental health perspectives, 122(4), 363-370. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1306587
Genchi, G., Carocci, A., Lauria, G., Sinicropi, M. S., & Catalano, A. (2020). Nickel: Human health and environmental toxicology. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(3), 679. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030679
González-Álvarez, M. A., Hernández-Bonilla, D., Plascencia-Álvarez, N. I., Ríojas-Rodríguez, H., & Rosselli, D. (2022). Environmental and occupational exposure to metals (manganese, mercury, iron) and Parkinson’s disease in low and middle-income countries: a narrative review. Reviews on environmental health, 37(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2020-0140
Guilarte, T. R. (2010). Manganese and Parkinson’s disease: a critical review and new findings. Environmental health perspectives, 118(8), 1071-1080. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0901748
Guney, B. (2021). Microstructure analysis of welding fume of low and medium carbon steels. Revista De Metalurgia, 57(1) doi:10.3989/REVMETALM.187 https://doi.org/10.3989/revmetalm.187
Hartmann, L., Bauer, M., Bertram, J., Gube, M., Lenz, K., Reisgen, U., & Brand, P. (2014). Assessment of the biological effects of welding fumes emitted from metal inert gas welding processes of aluminium and zinc-plated materials in humans. International journal of hygiene and environmental health, 217(2-3), 160-168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2013.04.008
Hartwig, A. (2012). Cadmium and cancer. Cadmium: from toxicity to essentiality, 491-507. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5179-8_15
Hedberg, Y. S., Wei, Z., McCarrick, S., Romanovski, V., Theodore, J., Westin, E. M., & Wallinder, I. O. (2021). Welding fume nanoparticles from solid and flux-cored wires: Solubility, toxicity, and role of fluorides. Journal of hazardous materials, 413, 125273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125273
Japanese Industrial Standards Committee. (2011). JIS G3101: Standard specification for carbon structural steels, Japanese Industrial Standards Committee
Khindri, N. M., & Maj, M. C. (2025). Manganese-Induced Parkinsonism: A Review of Etiologies and Treatments. Degenerative Neurological and Neuromuscular Disease, 65-79. https://doi.org/10.2147/DNND.S482018
Kim, J. J., Konkel, K., McCulley, L., & Diak, I. L. (2019). Cases of argyria associated with colloidal silver use. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 53(8), 867-870. https://doi.org/10.1177/1060028019844258
Konarski, P., Iwanejko, I., & Ćwil, M. (2003). Core–shell morphology of welding fume micro-and nanoparticles. Vacuum, 70(2-3), 385-389. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0042-207X(02)00674-7
Kouokam, J. C., Meaza, I., & Wise Sr, J. P. (2022). Inflammatory effects of hexavalent chromium in the lung: a comprehensive review. Toxicology and applied pharmacology, 455, 116265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2022.116265
Kulkarni, S. (2020). Metals, Metal Oxides, and Their Composites—Safety and Health Awareness. In Multifunctional Nanostructured Metal Oxides for Energy Harvesting and Storage Devices (pp. 259-308). CRC Press.
Lipton, D. (2025). Welding Hazards. In Farm Toxicology: A Primer for Rural Healthcare Practitioners (pp. 143-154). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-80441-0_15
Lu, M., Deng, P., Yang, L., Wang, X., Mei, X., Zhou, C., Chen, M., Zhou, Z., Pi, H., Wu, L., & Yu, Z. (2023). Manganese overexposure induces Parkinson-like symptoms, altered lipid signature and oxidative stress in C57BL/6 J mouse. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 263, 115238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115238
MacLeod, J. S., Harris, M. A., Tjepkema, M., Peters, P. A., & Demers, P. A. (2017). Cancer risks among welders and occasional welders in a national population-based cohort study: canadian census health and environmental cohort. Safety and health at work, 8(3), 258-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2016.12.001
Marques, O., Weiss, G., & Muckenthaler, M. U. (2022). The role of iron in chronic inflammatory diseases: from mechanisms to treatment options in anemia of inflammation. Blood, The Journal of the American Society of Hematology, 140(19), 2011-2023. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2021013472
Nemery, B. (2022). Metals and the respiratory tract. In Handbook on the Toxicology of Metals (pp. 421-443). Academic Press.
O V Kuznetsova, L. A. (2018). The Determination of Metals in Welding Fume by X-ray spectrometry. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823292-7.00030-9
Phengarree, K., Srithron, J., & Boonruksa, P. (2025). Characterization of Metal Fumes and Oxides Across Current Variations in the Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) Process. Engineering Journal, 29(6), 13-27. https://doi.org/10.4186/ej.2025.29.6.13
Pires, I., Quintino, L., Miranda, R. M., & Gomes, J. F. P. (2006). Fume emissions during gas metal arc welding. Toxicological and Environ Chemistry, 88(3), 385-394. https://doi.org/10.1080/02772240600720472
Quémerais, B., Mino, J., Amin, M. R., Golshahi, H., & Izadi, H. (2015). Detailed characterization of welding fumes in personal exposure samples. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 617, No. 1, p. 012011). IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/617/1/012011
Schoofs, H., Schmit, J., & Rink, L. (2024). Zinc toxicity: understanding the limits. Molecules, 29(13), 3130. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29133130
Seleme, D.P. (2016). Personal occupational exposure to total welding fume. WIReDspace.
Sowards, J. W., Ramirez, A. J., Lippold, J. C., & Dickinson, D. W. (2008). Characterization procedure for the analysis of arc welding fume. Welding journal, new york, 87(3), 76.
Stanislawska, M., Halatek, T., Cieslak, M., Kaminska, I., Kuras, R., Janasik, B., & Wasowicz, W. (2017). Coarse, fine, and ultrafine particles arising during welding-Analysis of occupational exposure. Microchemical Journal, 135, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2017.06.021
Wycislik-Sosnierz, J., Matusiak, J., Adamiec, J., Lemanowicz, M., Kusiorowski, R., & Gerle, A. (2024). Morphology of Welding Fume Derived from Stainless Steels Arc Welding. Archives of Foundry Engineering, 24. https://doi.org/10.24425/afe.2024.151317
Yang, S. Y., Lin, J. M., Young, L. H., & Chang, C. W. (2018). Mass-size distribution and concentration of metals from personal exposure to arc welding fume in pipeline construction: a case report. Industrial health, 56(4), 356-363. https://doi.org/10.2486/indhealth.2017-0197
