Photobiological hazards in shielded metal arc welding.

Purpose: Photobiological hazards caused by artificial optical radiation are assessed for the most commonly used arc welding technique, the SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc Welding), which operates with a hand-held system and is widely used both at occupational and domestic environments, expanding our previous investigation of a robotic arc welding process.

Methods: The complex exposure limits of the emitted blue and visible light, ultraviolet and infrared, are assessed through the European Directive 2006/25/EC, using three dedicated sensors set to measure irradiance from various typical welding procedures in the controlled environment (currents, electrodes, etc.) of a welding laboratory.

Artificial Optical Radiation photobiological hazards in arc welding.

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is associated with crucial social, economic, cultural and technical issues. A highly specialized OHS sector deals with the photobiological hazards from artificial optical radiation (AOR), which is divided into visible light, UV and IR emitted during various activities and which is legally covered by European Directive 2006/25/EC. Among the enormous amount of sources emitting AOR, the most important non-coherent ones to consider for health effects to the whole optical range, are arcs created during metal welding.