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70 SMT Magazine • August 2015 REDuCING RISkS TO EMPLOYEES' HEALTH continues chloride. Moreover, laser smoke contains fine dust that may, at worst, lead to respiratory dis- eases, cardiovascular problems and an increased cancer risk. Apart from bad quality of work due to per- manent smoke and odour emissions, machines may be affected or damaged due to pollution and chemical reactions of their products. In particular, in the case of finest precision me- chanical works, each kind of impact by particles must be avoided. In many countries, there are clear regula- tions and laws to remove hazardous substanc- es in the breathing air. Germany, for example, has the Ordinance on Hazardous Substances, Technical Instructions for Air Quality Control and Technical Rules for Hazardous Substances. Those standards require that "produced dusts must be completely captured and safely dis- posed." There is a four-level protection concept, ranging from minimising dangerous substances (level 1), via substitution of hazardous substanc- ArtICle es and (use of) extraction devices (level 2), and closed systems and access limitations (level 3), to demarcation of risk areas and respective limi- tation in clean air return. In addition to the reg- ulation on contaminant capture by closed and open systems, it is specified that dusts and gases must be filtered on a high degree (>99.95%). Users of air filtration plants do not necessar- ily have to know all these regulations, howev- er, vendors of extraction and filtration systems must know them in detail. They need up-to- date expert knowledge on the full range from checking the medium to be filtered, particle size distribution and characteristics (adhesive, sub- liming, etc.), up to tests of hazardous substances and flammability. Clean air return is not regulated by law but strengthens economic and ecological accep- tance and self-interest. From the point of view of a healthy air balance and heat-loss avoidance, extraction and filtration technology should be utilised in the best way possible. What do users of extraction and filtration figure 1: overview of dust particle sizes.