Welding keeps safety risks for the welders as well as for people who work close to the workshop. Due to sharp light, So the question pops into our mind “does welding hurt your eyes?”
Indeed, welding can cause damage to your eyes due to exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and flying metal debris. Welder’s flash, also known as photokeratitis, is one of the more common eye injuries that can be reversed, although some others can result in permanent visual damage. The pain can be severe even though the majority of these injuries are transient. Thus it makes sense to avoid wearing the right safety equipment in the first place.
Does Welding Hurt Your Eyes?
In some circumstances, vulnerability and fragility cause eye injuries to become the most serious. Around 29% of all eye injuries worldwide are caused by welding and grinding, according to recent studies.
Workers in industries that create fabricated metal goods, commercial and industrial machines are more likely to have eye injuries from welding. This essay will examine in greater detail how welding may damage your vision and, more importantly, how you can avoid it.
Let’s get started.
Why does welding hurt your eyes?
By collecting radiation from the intense light produced at the electrode tip, welding might damage your eyes. Although though it appears to be only an extremely bright light source, it also emits radiation from the ultraviolet, infrared, and visible spectrum. Some of these rays have the ability to penetrate your retina, making them very dangerous to gaze directly at with the naked eye.
Hazards of UV radiation
Infrared rays alone cannot significantly damage the eye, but UV rays can. For instance, ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can cause swollen, painful eyes by absorbing into the cornea and lens of your eyes. Welder’s flash, also known as photokeratitis, is the eye damage that results from this technique.
Photokeratitis, in general, refers to corneal sunburn. Thankfully, this eye impairment is not permanent, but the pain might worsen over time. Even while it may seem like everything is alright at first, you will start to experience the effects of it a few hours later. It may take a few days or even a few nights for the eyes to recover from the injury. If the flash burns are not treated right after, infections may develop, which might result in much worse circumstances.
The cornea and lens of your eyes may eventually become yellow if you keep subjecting them to UV radiation. The main long-term effects of welding on eyes are that you will find it difficult to see contrast when you have this condition.
UVR Types And How They Effect Your Eyesight
There are three categories of ultraviolet radiation. UVA, UVB, and UVC (Has the shortest wavelength).
In this case, UVC radiation is the most dangerous for the eyes, but occasionally being exposed to UV radiation can cause pinguecula and pterygium (Surfer’s Eye). Pinguecula and pterygia are terms used to describe growths on the surface of the eye that eventually impact the cornea and cause visual distortion.
Although UVA radiation has longer wavelengths and is less strong than UVB radiation, it can nevertheless reach the eye’s lens through the cornea. It is possible for the infrared and UV radiation that enters your eye to damage your retina.
You occasionally have eye pain despite using your safety equipment. This can be the result of spending a lot of time during the day focusing on a narrow area. Although it is not permanent, you can perform some eye exercises to ensure that it won’t have a long-term negative impact on your eyesight.
Can welding result in eye floaters?
YES! If you look straight at the light in the center, where the welding is being done, you may occasionally notice dark spots in your eyesight.
This phenomenon is comparable to how looking straight at the sun causes dark-eye floaters. Be careful since looking at the welding tip too closely can result in permanent eye injury.
Your Eyes Can Be Damaged By Radiation As Well As Other Factors
Other welding-related activities can release metal chips into the air, all of which can damage your eyes if they are not protected.
Let’s begin with cutting tools like chop saws and band saws. Projectiles can be emitted by flying debris transmitted by electrical saws. Other tasks that are likely to hurt your eyes in this way include grinding and hammering. When using an angle grinder to grind a metal surface, tiny metallic particles could go into your eyes.
Notching, polishing, and sanding pipe are additional risky chores that put you at risk. Your eyes may also be harmed by the extreme heat produced by arc welding and rare explosions brought on by gas welding. If you wish to prevent these mishaps, you should always wear safety eyewear.
Rust ring
You must respond right away if a metal particle attaches to your eye for some reason. The primary factor is preventing the development of an eye rust ring.
Within a few hours of becoming embedded in the eye, a foreign metal body will begin to corrode. This very quick response is brought on by the salt in your tears. It is crucial to get rid of the foreign body as soon as possible since it might cause necrosis, or the death of cells in a tissue, which can result in permanent eyesight damage.
In the manufacturing sector, eye injuries occur often. They are the significant causes of unilateral blindness in the entire world.
Most of the time, the sufferers sustain these wounds while going about their daily business in various industries. Despite the widely publicized requirements for occupational protection, eye injuries continue to be a risk, even in developing nations.
The main industry in the world that has a high rate of eye injuries is welding. Due to a variety of circumstances that we covered earlier in this essay, it causes eye damage.
Because welding activities have risen over time rather than decreased, studies suggest a significant frequency of eye injuries. The primary cause of this is rising industrialization.
A comprehensive study on “Ocular injuries among industrial welders” conducted by two experts produced some startling findings.
These statistics demonstrate that molten or cold metal particles are the most frequent cause of eye injuries, and awareness campaigns can reduce the frequency of these incidents among industrial welders.
Welding-Related Eye Injuries
Arc Eye (Welder’s Flash)
The clear tissue covering the eye ball, often known as the cornea, is merely inflamed in an arc. This delicate tissue may deteriorate and the ocular surface may be damaged by ultraviolet radiation.
Some of the obvious symptoms of arc eye are excessive blinking and watering, a gritty sensation in your eyes, and pain while gazing at bright lights. Blurred vision and swelling of the eyes are other symptoms.
“Welder’s eye,” “Photokeratitis,” or “Ultraviolet keratitis” are some additional terms used for this illness.
Your eyes may become temporarily blinded by the strong light produced by the welding arc. This disorder occurs when the iris muscles of the eye do not sufficiently shut the pupil of the eye to prevent some light from reaching the retina.
Welder’s flash symptoms won’t appear for several hours after the UV light encounter. But, there is a good risk that even brief UV radiation exposure will harm your eyes.
The length of time it takes for you to experience the symptoms depends on a number of factors. The strength of the welding radiation and the ideal distance from the welding arc to your eye are two examples. Additional factors include the kind of eye protection you’re wearing and the angle from which the radiation enters your eye.
Hazardous Blue Light
The condition known as blue light hazard is one in which there is a high likelihood that visible light will cause retinal damage. High-frequency light waves or electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between 400 and 500 nm can seriously damage the retina’s sensitivity. Blindness may result from this problem because it may cause temporary or permanent damage to the retina.
Cataracts And Macular Degeneration
The long-term effects of welding on eyes include cataracts and macular degeneration. Some welders who are exposed to UV radiation for an extended period of time experience these cumulative harmful effects. There is a substantial likelihood that you will develop Age-related macular degeneration if you are exposed to UV radiation frequently while you are younger (AMD).
On the other side, it is extremely improbable that welding will cause cataracts, although it is still possible. Your eyes’ lenses will begin to fog, obstructing your vision. It is preventable, but if you don’t get treatment for cataracts, you run a high risk of going blind.
How To Treat Your Eyes If They Are Hurt With Welding
If you glanced at the welding arc by mistake, you can get a flash burn.
So what should you do if this occurs?
Even though the tissues in your body that mend the fastest are those in your eyes, you still need to be familiar with emergency first aid procedures.
First, don’t obstruct your eyes. Certainly, it may feel better to rub and scratch your eyes for the initial few seconds, but doing so will just make the symptoms worse and may even result in corneal scarring. Alternately, enter a room that is completely black and try to open your eyes. Even if it’s difficult given your state, try to relax. Avoid wearing contacts, watching TV, and other similar activities.
Use a pain reliever, like paracetamol, if it hurts. If the pain continues after completing this method, think about getting medical help.
Home treatments for flash burn in welders
In addition to medical treatment, certain home remedies can hasten the healing from welder’s flash (Arc eye). They consist of:
Potatoes
Potatoes reduce inflammation and cool the area around the affected eye. As a result, they are crucial for easing discomfort as well as itchiness and irritation.
Milk
Milk’s natural enzymes are essential for treating the dryness and itching associated with welder’s flash. It is essential for lubricating the eyes and, to a certain extent, for pain relief.
Tea Bags
The tannins in tea bags are crucial for decreasing inflammation one minute after application. Their calm demeanor also aids in reducing the discomfort brought on by the welder’s flash.
Ice Pack
Ice packs’ cooling effect on the afflicted eye greatly reduces discomfort. They are also crucial for minimizing inflammation and redness.
Cucumber
Cucumber has a larger proportion of water than other fruits and vegetables, which helps to provide the affected area with deep moisturization.
Rosewater
Rosewater is a cooling agent that significantly reduces irritability and pain perception.
Almond oil
Almonds have a larger percentage of vitamin E components than other foods, which helps to lubricate the damaged eyes. Moreover, they lessen inflammation, eye tiredness, and burning.
Wet Cloth
The swelling and agony brought on by the welder’s flash are better relieved with a moist cloth.
Banana
Bananas include vitamin B2, which aids in the treatment of inflammation and eye tiredness. Also, by lubricating them, it prevents flaking and dryness of the eyelids.
Castor Oil
Cator oil regulates the evaporation of tears and boosts lipid synthesis in the eyes.
Welding Eye Safety: How To Prevent Eye injuries
If you need to protect your eyes from ultraviolet and infrared rays, as well as molten metal particles, you must wear a welding helmet that meets ANSI standards (ANSI Z87.1+).
Another crucial topic to focus on when welding is the shade of the welding helmet. Choose a color that goes with the job you wish to do.
Keep in mind that a welding helmet can have one of two different types of lens shades.
- variable lens shade (also called auto-darkening lens shade)
- fixed-lens shade
Selecting The Appropriate Welding Lens Shade
For welding tasks of a similar nature, the fixed shade welding helmet is most effective for welders. For welders who conduct various welding activities, a welding helmet with a changeable shade is best.
After that, you can gradually acclimate to the manual or automatic ones until you have a precise picture of the area. Yet, as a welder, you should not be prepared to descend to the level below the necessary protective level.
Even if you’re standing at a safe viewing distance, your eyes could still be hurt if you don’t wear any eye protection. Your eyes could still be exposed to the strong light from other welder arcs, which could impair your vision.
Conclusion
Pay great attention to the protection of your eyes during welding, I must conclude. Your eyes are the crowning glory of your body, so you must take good care of them. If you don’t adhere to the general safety guidelines during welding, it could seriously harm your eyesight.
Because they regularly exercised caution at work, I have observed 70-year-old welders without any significant eye problems. You may do the same. Be sure to get first assistance even if you unintentionally stared at a welding arc to prevent long-term damage to your eyes.
With 8 years of experience a senior welding instructor and safety equipment researcher and writes articles, reviews and guidelines on helmets and other welding and safety gears at Welder Choice, and other written works have been published in various publications.