Let me guess, you're about 20 years old?

Instead of taking extremely good advice you are going to ignore a warning that could actually KILL you and is completely avoidable? Yeah you deserve what you get

22 actually. And no i dont weld once in a blue moon. I weld at least once a week for a couple hours. Been doing this for 4 years. Im not an idiot, I take it into consideration and use bits and pieces of ur advice. Do any of u guys weld? Or read an article and go hmm it says this is bad and i wont do that IF i ever weld? Like smoking, it can kill u but people still smoke.

I weld. Not on a professional level, but enough to heed the warning. I've gotten welder's burn though disregarding warnings about the UV in a welding arc, so now I have a welder's jacket. I learned a long time ago that smoke kills, fast or slow, so I make sure I'm well ventilated when I do, as much as possible. I know all about the dangers of phosgene gas from many hazmat classes on the FD. Now I know that certain brake cleaners combined with shield gas in the right circumstances can kill me, so you can bet I'll take precautions. I know the 'immortal' feeling of being young, but a lot of older guys are giving you some good advice; take care of your health now or you'll pay hell for it later.

Death is the easy end vs. a lifetime of medical issues. Ever see a smoker with a stoma or on O2?

Assuming that you are safe from something because you can't see it is both arrogant and dangerous. Fwiw I have spent plenty of time making sparks and see no downside to being careful.

Yea i have seen a smoker with a stoma, my buddys dad. For some reason i dont get welders burn anymore. My arms are usually tan now a days haha. Rarely get sunburn anymore. I know im not immortal, as u all can tell just thick headed atm.

i deal with this at work, since i do commercial air conditioning and deal with cfc, hcfc, and hfc refrigerants. you'd be suprised how often no matter what you do to get all the refrigerant out of a system before brazing or soldering, you still get a little pocket bubble or something of vapor that all of a sudden decides it wants to go poof and decompose into phosgene when doing hot work. when i did residential, a 30-year mechanic was replacing a compressor in a small condensing unit and nearly died from the reefer vapor being released from the oil when he was brazing, which decomposed into phosgene when it came out of the joint and was exposed to the open torch flame.

great write up

I can attest to welders flash.. Screw that cheeet. Its like having sand paper in your eyes everytime ya open and close them. That is what I got for just tacking without a helmet.. :(