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Ann. occup. Hyg., Vol. 47, No. 8, pp. 671-680, 2003
© 2003 British Occupational Hygiene Society
Published by Oxford University Press

Fume Generation and Content of Total Chromium and Hexavalent Chromium in Flux-cored Arc Welding

CHUNG SIK YOON1, NAM WON PAIK2,* and JEONG HAN KIM3

1 Department of Occupational Health, Catholic University of Daegu, Kyongsan-si, Kyongbuk 712-702; 2 Institute of Health & Environment, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Chongro-Ku, Seoul 110-799; 3 Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Ibjang-myun, Chonan-si, Chungnam 330–820, Korea

Received 13 September 2002; in final form 14 April 2003

This study was performed to investigate the fume generation rates (FGRs) and the concentrations of total chromium and hexavalent chromium when stainless steel was welded using flux-cored arc welding (FCAW) with CO2 gas. FGRs and concentrations of total chromium and hexavalent chromium were quantified using a method recommended by the American Welding Society, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (NIOSH Method 7300) and ion chromatography (modified NIOSH Method 7604), respectively. The amount of total fume generated was significantly related to the level of input power. The ranges of FGR were 189–344, 389–698 and 682–1157 mg/min at low, optimal and high input power, respectively. It was found that the FGRs increased with input power by an exponent of 1.19, and increased with current by an exponent of 1.75. The ranges of total chromium fume generation rate (FGRCr) were 3.83–8.27, 12.75–37.25 and 38.79–76.46 mg/min at low, optimal and high input power, respectively. The ranges of hexavalent chromium fume generation rate (FGRCr6+) were 0.46–2.89, 0.76–6.28 and 1.70–11.21 mg/min at low, optimal and high input power, respectively. Thus, hexavalent chromium, which is known to be a carcinogen, generated 1.9 (1.0–2.7) times and 3.7 (2.4–5.0) times as the input power increased from low to optimal and low to high, respectively. As a function of input power, the concentration of total chromium in the fume increased from 1.57–2.65 to 5.45–8.13% while the concentration of hexavalent chromium ranged from 0.15 to 1.08%. The soluble fraction of hexavalent chromium produced by FCAW was ~80–90% of total hexavalent chromium. The concentration of total chromium and the solubility of hexavalent chromium were similar to those reported from other studies of shielded metal arc welding fumes, and the concentration of hexavalent chromium was similar to that obtained for metal inert gas-welding fumes.

Keywords: fume generation rates; chromium; hexavalent chromium; welding; flux-cored arc welding; alkaline extraction; ion chromatography


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