Welding Arcs

  • David Sliney
  • Myron Wolbarsht
Chapter

Abstract

Surely the greatest population of personnel exposed to intense sources of optical radiation would be welders and welders’ helpers. The American Welding Society (AWS) estimates that there may be as many as 500,000 welders in the USA (Emmett and Horstman, 1976). There are two broad categories of welding equipment—gas (acetylene) welding equipment and electric-arc welding equipment. A gas welding or cutting torch has a luminance not much greater than a candle flame, typically ranging from 1 to 20 cd/cm2, and the ultraviolet emission is quite small. The optical radiation hazards of such torches are virtually nonexistant. Welding filter goggles used with such torches are to reduce glare, and generally are little more darker than very dark sunglasses having a shade number of the order of 3 to 5 (visual transmittance of 5 to 15 percent). On the other hand electric welding arcs may be 1,000 times brighter than gas torches and emit ultraviolet radiation at proportionately greater levels. This chapter is devoted to the hazards and the protective measures associated with working with welding and cutting electric arcs and other open-arc processes such as plasma arc spraying and plasma torches. All of this equipment is used in heavy industry, principally for working with heavy plate steel and aluminum.

Keywords

American National Standard Institute Ultraviolet Emission Retinal Injury Plastic Curtain Ultraviolet Erythema 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 1980

Authors and Affiliations

  • David Sliney
    • 1
  • Myron Wolbarsht
    • 2
  1. 1.U.S. Army Environmental Hygiene AgencyAberdeen Proving GroundUSA
  2. 2.Duke University Medical CenterDurhamUSA

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