Ultrafine Particles (UFP)

Epidemiological studies and animal tests with ultrafine particles non specifically connected with welding are in principle inhalation tests with rats or other rodents exposed to diesel soot, to technical soot and other particles to evaluate the effect of the size of particles independent of the chemical composition. They show that, depending on the particle surface in contact with the lung, inflammatory, fibrotic (hardening of the lung tissue) or carcinogenic effects may occur.