Are there any health and safety implications of cutting and welding plastics?
Laser cutting and hot gas welding of plastics are two techniques that are potentially hazardous due to the emission of fumes. For example, polypropylene, polyethylene and polycarbonate all generate benzene, a carcinogen, during laser cutting. Polystyrene releases styrene, while PVC emits hydrogen chloride. Many plastics also give off ultra fine particles, plus carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In addition, the filters that are commonly used to clean up the fumes that originate from laser cutting of metals will not remove the fumes produced from plastics. These points indicate that workers involved with laser cutting of plastics may potentially be exposed to unacceptable levels of hazardous substances. Hence, the need for employers to install the correct ventilation systems so that exposures are controlled adequately. Exposure to fumes given off during the hot gas welding of plastics such as PVC, nylon, PMMA, polycarbonate and polypropylene is not normally likely to give ca
