Does welding cause cancer

Answer 1

Yes, it could. Certain metals (and their coatings like paint or galvanization) when oxidized into smoke and breathed in are toxic. Toxins can accumulate and cause damage to the immune system that normally fights cancer to prevent tumors from ever happening. Also, when performing various types of welding, so much bright ultraviolet level (ionizing) radiation is produced that the welder operator can get "sun burn" from the intense light on any of their exposed skin. If you have ever gotten such a sun burn effect from such welding, you could be damaging your skin and lower layer tissues with this kind of radiation. Such damage is cumulative, and eventually the burn damage may not be repairable, initially leaving dark freckles, then scars and burned patches that remain sore longer than they should. The types of metals used would determine the color or frequency of the emitted light / electromagnetic radiation. See emission spectrum. This emitted light also interacts with any smoke present in the surroundings of the welding operation and these smoke gases also have their own emission spectrums that may have harmful biological effects. Chelation therapy uses chelating agents to chemically isolate blood and various tissue borne metal molecules so that they can be expelled from the body via kidneys into the urine. Numerous specialized chelating agents act best upon various particular metals. Certain heavy metals have been found to be carcinogenic. See related links below...