From Fume Capture to Exposure Reduction: Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) Performance in Welding Bays - A Scoping Review

Local exhaust ventilation (LEV) can control welding emissions at source, but installation alone does not demonstrate reduced worker exposure. This scoping review maps the extent, characteristics and measurement approaches of welding-LEV evidence published from 1997 to 2026. The review question was structured using the Population-Concept-Context framework and covered welders and adjacent workers; LEV performance and exposure verification; and laboratory, training and industrial welding settings. Sources were identified through iterative searches of PubMed, publisher platforms and institutional repositories, supplemented by backward and forward citation searching. Thirty-two primary sources were charted across engineering and modelling, controlled or comparative exposure, workplace observational or intervention, and exposure-characterisation or biomonitoring evidence. Performance depended on source-hood distance, induced velocity, welding orientation, emission rate and work practice. Comparative studies generally reported reductions in manganese, total particulate and hexavalent chromium under defined conditions, whereas workplace effects were smaller or more variable. Heterogeneous outcomes were mapped by evidence stratum and were not statistically pooled. The map identifies a persistent gap between engineering capture measurements and matched personal breathing-zone evidence, particularly for bystanders and across maintenance cycles. LEV protection should therefore be verified during representative work rather than inferred from equipment presence alone.

Welding; Local Exhaust Ventilation; Occupational Exposure; Environmental Monitoring; Occupational Health; Scoping Review

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