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Working with silver solder.

NIOSH

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Division of Occupational Health, PHS Publication No. 1518, 1966 Oct; :1-6

20043587

This pamphlet provided information on working with silver solder, including industrial uses of silver solder, hazards associated with silver solder, and how to use solder safely. The main hazards in brazing included heat, chemicals, and fumes. Workers must be protected from the generated heat and trained in the safe handling of hot objects. Outer clothing should be protective in nature and eye coverings should be used. Chemical burns could also be a problem when using chemical creams to clean the surfaces of the metals to be joined. Fumes released during the brazing operation could contain fluoride (16984488) and cadmium-oxide (1306190). Pulmonary distress, shortness of breath, and in extreme cases, death, could result from inhaling cadmium-oxide fumes. Silver brazing filler metals containing cadmium have been divided into different categories for reasons of safety. Adequate local exhaust ventilation was vital and, when not possible, individual air supplied respirators were to be worn. The temperature of the brazing operation must be strictly controlled, as the hazards increase dramatically when the brazing materials are overheated. Workers should know what materials they are using, read warning labels, wear protective gear, work in ventilated areas, apply heat to the base metal and not to the brazing filler metal, be careful not to overheat the base metal or brazing filler metal, and wash hands after handling fluxes and filler metals.

Pulmonary-system-disorders; Refrigeration-equipment; Electronic-equipment; Aerospace-industry; Cadmium-compounds; Metal-fumes; Occupational-exposure

16984-48-8; 1306-19-0

19661001

Other

1967

PHS 1518

Division of Occupational Health

DC