Welding fume exposure database

This database of welding fume exposure data was created by TWI using sponsorship from the UK Health and Safety Executive and Nickel Institute. It is in the form of a MicroSoft Excel TM spreadsheet and may be downloaded free of charge.

The exposure data were obtained from

  • the published literature,
  • a survey of TWI member companies
  • various personal contacts of the author.

The database is unique because individual datasets and datapoints are made available, allowing database users to perform their own statistical analysis. Other fume exposure databases exist but they are not available for general use and it is impossible to access individual data, although it may be possible to purchase/obtain statistically treated data from the database owners. Similarly, most literature contains only statistically treated data.

This database was created in Microsoft ExcelTM, enabling all the features of this software to be employed. The database structure is comprehensive because factors such as sampling method, welding process, work location etc are all addressed. Therefore, it becomes possible for users to edit data according to their particular requirements, for example, selecting only data where the sampling method is specified.

It is envisaged that, together with other relevant data, the database may be helpful in

  • examining the health effects of exposure to welding fume
  • establishing exposure limits
  • examining the economic effects of prescribing exposure limits
  • examining exposure levels for a particular welding process etc.

At present, the database contains approximately 5000 datapoints but there is a desire to increase its usefulness by expanding it further. If you have welding fume exposure data that you believe could be used to enhance the database, please send them to materials@twi.co.uk. A template is provided for this purpose. Please fill in as much of the template as possible and provide sufficient information about yourself to permit verification of the data source.
All data supplied will be treated confidentially and presented anonymously.