smoking + welding fumes??

[apprenticetom]

hi ive decided to quit smoking as im exposed to a lot of fumes from grinding and welding (mig , mma and bita tig) most commonly its mig welding mild steel everything from gates to digger buckets. theres also a lot of rust ground off plate its often that fumes are seen hanging around the lights. what damage does smoking whilst exposed to these fumes cause? we usually have doors open with a breeze blowing in the back and out the front but its hard escape em all. i dont use a fume extraction welding shield just a normal vlack lense one. i know it does damage to the lungs but exactly what damage? thanks in advance. tom

 

[cumbriasteve]

Google is Great:

http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Industrial-Dust-Diseases.htm

 

[apprenticetom]

thanks for that. but thers surly not a risk of getting abestosis as a welder? i read about the silica and now know about that cheers

 

[brightspark]

smoking while grinding or in a dirty aeria is prety obvious. u inhale all the crap in to your lungs breathing through your mouth where as breathing through your nose filters some of the crap out which is obvious when u blow your nose its common sense to wear a mask and DONT SMOKE

 

[strada]

I had a scare a few years ago when i developed a bad cough which wouldnt go.Went to see a lung specialist who said i had a case for occupational asthma but if i went a head i would have to finish work and change my job.

We didnt have any form of extraction at work at the time,but when the management got wind of it they spent 40k on extraction ,all grinders ,welding guns etc...We also had a bloke come in and we had to wear a little box thing on our overalls which sucked in air to get some sort of reading as to what was in the air, all 4 of these were blocked up within the hour

It wasnt a heavy fab shop we were making security gates,the grinding that took place was mainly to flatten welds. Its surprising when a ray of sunlight creeps through the door and you can see all the s***e floating about.

Anyway i didnt put a claim in my lungs settled down after a couple of months off work,and after the extraction was fitted.I thought i had a very secure job at the time ,its the main reason i didnt claim.
How ever ,the company made us all redundant a couple of years later
The doctor i saw was more concerned with grinding dust than fumes off the welder.

 

[bump]

One of the old boys at the concrete precasters I used to work at passed away from welders lung in his early 50's.

He'd been doing the job since he was 16, and all he was really doing was tacking rebar together to go into the moulds.

 

[apprenticetom]

thanks for the replies lads thats me gettin off tobaco!!

 

[Jester]

The only fresh air I get is when I go outside for a smoke

 

[brightspark]

i smoked 60 a day for 17 years, started when they were 20 pence a packet and stopped when they went to £1.50 a packet work that out what ive spent ive stopped for 25 years now

 

[apprenticetom]

hehe what kinda work ye guys do? maybe il just cut back

 

[Keith 66]

I have worked on & off as a boatbuilder since 79, grinding fibreglass & laminating it, building & repairing wooden boats including machining timber much of it fairly toxic. I have had a decent Racal airstream powered respirator for many years & the **** that ends up in its filter is sobering. I have also done a fair bit of welding & metalwork normally boat oriented, trailers trollies fitting etc, i find the metal working just as bad as the GRP work. I smoked for many years but gave up 6 years ago, i honestly think if i hadnt stopped i would have been in deep trouble by now if not dead. Moral of the story is you only have one pair of lungs best look after them.

 

[apprenticetom]

thankd for your replie mate think il get me a good respirator as i do a lot of grinding, welding. thanks buddy

 

[Jester]

I've worked as a Roll Grinder since 1980 ......... and smoked since 1973 (14 year old).
Was smoking 40/day ...... now roll my own ...... at least 2x50g pouches/week
In work, with the sun shining through the windows, a constant haze can be seen from the grinding. Air has been tested and as expected, given the all clear

 

[apprenticetom]

i work as a maintainance fitter. apprentice at the moment but do a lot of digger bucket plating everything really from making gates, to turning, to engines. its mainly a lot of welding and grinding tho ive been on em since same as yourself 14 you ever had any lung trouble?

 

[Jester]

No problems ...........YET.
Last medical in work, showed a 'lung age function' of a 42 year old non-smoker..... not that I believe them but as I'm 54, I use it against any ott anti-smokers I encounter

 

[apprenticetom]

hehe says a lot about some people against it

 

[Jester]

Just after the smoking ban started -
A bearing seized on a roll and needed to be burnt out of the housing (bearing outside diameter approx 24").
As soon as the task was stated, the seals and grease inside the bearing ignited, with thick black smoke billowing throughout the workshop.
I sauntered up to the worker and sarcastically pointed out that if he wanted a ciggie, he'd have to go outside

 

[cumbriasteve]

You will find the majority of smokers use everything they can to suggest it's not really as harmful as medical opinion suggests.

The simple truth is it is harmful, very harmful to you and those you subject the smoke to.

Any smoker who denies this is fooling themself, there will always be a few who appear to survive to a ripe old age with no effects but a damn sight more who will die earlier than they should, coughing their lungs up in agony.

Use what common sense you can muster and pack in...it's a mugs game...and I am one of the mug's myself who has not escaped the effects..chesty cough, below average lung capacity and a fitness level that is starting to fail due to short of breath.

Luckily I noticed the effects kicking in last year and went gradually from 40 a day to my present 5 a day...my long term plan to stop is on course for completion at Easter...yep it's hard to do but I already cough less and feel better.

That does not mean I have escaped though, the 'time bomb' may go off at any time in the future.

Smoking isn't macho..get yourself to the chemist for a free consultation, guidance and help, instead of trying to find support to continue.

I wish someone had managed to persuade me to stop when I was your age but in those day's slowly destroying your body was acceptable.

 

[TechnicAl]

Theres no doubt that smoking is bad for you

Theres no doubt welding fumes are bad for you

Put the two together and you dont need me to tell you

 

[apprenticetom]

ive started cuttin down back from 24 to 8 now weaning myself off em bad job every night i blow black dirt out of my nose smokin cant help that