Morphology of Welding Fume Derived from Stainless Steels Arc Welding

The article presents the research results of fume morphology derived from arc welding of stainless steels of 1.4301 and 1.4828 grade. The analysis was performed using laser diffraction and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy. Welding fume has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a group of agents with proven carcinogenic effects to human. The assessment of the risk related to exposure to welding fume emission depends on the amount of fume generated, its chemical composition and morphology. The combined analysis of these factors determines the toxicity of fume and its impact on the human body. The results of the fume particle size distribution and the analysis of the shape and chemical composition using SEM with EDS in connection with the determination of the fume emission rate enable to obtain an overall assessment of the health risk as-sociated with welding fume. Such assessment is particularly important during welding processes of corrosion-resistant steels, due to the presence of chromium and nickel compounds in the fume, which are classified as substances with proven carcinogenic effects to human (Group 1 according to IARC guidelines). It was found that 15-17% of particles deriving from arc welding belong to the respirable and tracheal fractions, which are the most harmful due to the penetration beyond the larynx.