LASER WELDING MACHINE + PREGNANCY

[CHANCHAN]

The jewelry office that I started working at have laser welding machine which I am not at all familiar with.
Now I'm pregnant and noticed that there is argon gas attached to the machine that shares a room with me. There are no windows or vents in the room. I am not entirely sure how this will affect my health & pregnancy in any way. Any experienced bench jewelers n here that could tell me what precautions I should take or have my employer make aware of? What should I be concerned about? Is there a point where I should leave the room when its on or something? I don't even know what questions to ask. I am so nervous and Google is NOT helping me in any way.

 

[skypie]

From a quick googling -- I am not a jeweler but it sounds like common sense says noone should be in the room while argon gas is being emitted.

Health effects of argon
Routes of exposure: The substance can be absorbed into the body by inhalation.

Inhalation risk: On loss of containment this liquid evaporates very quickly causing supersaturation of the air with serious risk of suffocation when in confined areas.

Effects of exposure: Inhalation: Dizziness. Dullness. Headache. Suffocation. Skin: On contact with liquid: frostbite. Eyes: On contact with liquid: frostbite.

Inhalation: This gas is inert and is classified as a simple asphyxiant. Inhalation in excessive concentrations can result in dizziness, nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness, and death. Death may result from errors in judgment, confusion, or loss of consciousness which prevent self-rescue. At low oxygen concentrations, unconsciousness and death may occur in seconds without warning.

The effect of simple asphyxiant gases is proportional to the extent to which they diminish the amount (partial pressure) of oxygen in the air that is breathed. The oxygen may be diminished to 75% of it's normal percentage in air before appreciable symptoms develop. This in turn requires the presence of a simple asphyxiant in a concentration of 33% in the mixture of air and gas. When the simple asphyxiant reaches a concentration of 50%, marked symptoms can be produced. A concentration of 75% is fatal in a matter of minutes.

Symptoms: The first symptoms produced by a simple asphyxiant are rapid respirations and air hunger. Mental alertness is diminished and muscular coordination is impaired. Later judgment becomes faulty and all sensations are depressed. Emotional instability often results and fatigue occurs rapidly. As the asphyxia progresses, there may be nausea and vomiting, prostration and loss of consciousness, and finally convulsions, deep coma and death.

Read more: https://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/ar.htm#ixzz5D8GRP5oA

 

[CHANCHAN]

Thank you, Skypie. I saw that same article and it spiked my blood pressure! If this is the case, how are jewelers keeping themselves safe when working with such machines? Surely there must be female welders who must take precautions for exposure. I wonder if there are protocols that are universal when using such machines w/ gases. I trust our bench jeweler when it comes to overall safely, but this is his first time using such a machine so I'm not sure.

 

[OoohShiny]

As above, as a noble gas it can't hurt you by interacting with anything in your body AFAIK, but it could take up space in the room and effectively suffocate you by removing any space in the air for oxygen, in the same way that carbon monoxide from a broken boiler gas unit would.

That said, and going from the above, you would feel 'weird' long before that happened.

As long as there is ventilation, there should not be any issue, AIUI.

 

[CHANCHAN]

I'm going to ask them to move my desk. #paranoidmuch?

 

[Victor Canera]

Hi Chanchan,

I haven't really heard of warnings about laser welders with pregnancy. This could be because the industry is male dominated ?

But I just wanted to say that there are much more dangerous things that you should watch out for in a jewelry shop. If, for example, the shop does rhodium plating, the gas that the process gives off is very bad for your health. I've seen the fumes it gives off cause some heavy built men to cough hard. I read somewhere else that prolonged exposure causes cancer. The city has insisted that shops that use it install an air hood right on top to collect the gases.
There are many more small processes like this that are bad for your health but this one jumped out at me when I read your post. Back in the day, we used to use acid as a pickling compound too. The fumes this gives off was very bad too and it was outlawed in my city a few years back.

Good luck and congratulations

 

[ChristineRose]

The way argon could hurt you is if the cylinder breaks and the room fills with argon. Your body can't tell it's not air and you can suffocate while breathing normally. The symptoms they list are symptoms of suffocation, not symptoms of argon poisoning (argon is not poisonous). You will feel it, but by that time you may be to confused to realize what you need to do. This could hurt anyone, not just a pregnant person, but if they are handling it properly it is very unlikely to happen.

 

[LightBright]

CHANCHAN, I wonder if it makes sense for you to move your desk out of the metal shop during pregnancy? Maybe you could have a discussion with your boss and see if you can be accommodated for the next few months. 9 months is such a short amount of time, so why not be as careful as possible? Please don’t be embarrassed that you are trying to protect yourself and your baby. I encourage you to ask for what you makes you feel comfortable, and wish you and your baby all the best during this wonderful time.

 

[CHANCHAN]

Thank you everyone, I greatly appreciate your input!!

 

[CHANCHAN]

CHANCHAN, I wonder if it makes sense for you to move your desk out of the metal shop during pregnancy? Maybe you could have a discussion with your boss and see if you can be accommodated for the next few months. 9 months is such a short amount of time, so why not be as careful as possible? I encourage you to ask for what you need, and wish you and your baby all the best.

I agree!! I am planning on having that discussion soon. Thank you!!

 

[CareBear]

I would definitely move! It doesn't matter if there is actual harm to your baby, but just the stress of you worrying about it everyday is not good for your pregnancy!