ArtMetal

Intensive safety and health studies have been performed and documented regarding metal fumes in welding (as well as other welding safety concerns).

The American Welding Society (AWS) maintains an extensive set of Safety and Health reference manuals and publishes updates as appropriate. Their yellow covers indicate that they are the safety references. 

In recent media releases, there has been talk of  manganese, parkinson's, weld fume illnesses. For reliable research information on these topics you can go to these links:  

 AWS (American Welding Society)

 IIW (International Institute of Welding)

When metal is heated past its liquid temperature, some does turn to a fume (vapourized metal particulates). Lower temperature metals vaporize (boil) at lower temperatures.

 Weld training and welding texts advise the beginner to "keep your head out of the plume". This means to not keep your face right above the metal when you are welding.

If your welding set up (procedure) makes you excessively heat the metal ("boiling" it or turning it to a vapour), you are creating a problem that does not need to occur. An example would be too high amperage for the diameter of welding rod.

 Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) are available for all materials which can "get on ya or in ya". They are included in packages of electrodes, sandpaper, paints, anything you can get on your skin, breathe, ingest. They have several sections listing detailing safety information (I'll put up a separate post to elaborate).

You can request the MSDS from the manufacturer (generic ones are available on web). But they make even cough syrup sound like arsenic! You need to know how to read them and make sense of them.

Ventilation, fresh air exchange, fume hoods (in booth), disposable fume masks and self contained breathing units will be covered in a separate posting.

My personal opinion of 31 years experience: In general, I consider the low carbon steel electrodes to not create toxic fumes. However, when working with copper alloys, stainless steels, aluminums, tool steels, braze and solder alloys, I make sure to have good ventilation and to consider what ingredients that material may contain.

  Be proactive on this safety stuff. Smart AND healthy!