Post by thread:OT: health risk from lead in solder?

As you know lead is poison and vaporizing lead can make it more available so you don't want to over heat lead. It is wise to wash your hands and avoid breathing the fumes from solder and rosin. Lead poisoning can cause brain damage etc. so it is best to work in a ventilated area. At 11:08 AM 1/9/99 -0500, you wrote: >hi, > I was just wondering if anyone knows about health > risks asosiated with solder. I.E. lead poisning ect. >just curious. >Ryan Marty Tibor 1 Stop Speech Recognition and Adaptive Technology Synapse 3095 Kerner Blvd., Suite S, San Rafael, CA 94901 toll-free 888-285-9988 http://www.synapseadaptive.com Providers of adaptive and assistive technology solutions. http://www.unixspeech.com UNIX, mainframe and Mac speech recognition www.synapseadaptive.com/joel/default.htm Synapse hosts the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Unofficial Information Pages

Ryan; I acquired the MSDS data sheets on two solders, the organic and the no clean. In both cases, the datasheets stated that the fumes are known to cause occasional respiratory and eye irritation, which I have observed in our shop. It also mentioned that unless the solder is ingested, which is unlikey, lead poisoning is not a risk. Keep in mind, though, that the new pastes used in SMT can easily be spread on the hands and elsewhere. I tend to be more careful with the paste for that reason. Chris Eddy, PE Pioneer Microsystems, Inc. ryan pogge wrote: > hi, > I was just wondering if anyone knows about health > risks asosiated with solder. I.E. lead poisning ect. > just curious. > Ryan

Ryan Pogge wrote: > I was just wondering if anyone knows about health risks asosiated > with solder. I.E. lead poisning ect. just curious. Don't suck it! Or your hands, until washed. Martin Tibor wrote: > As you know lead is poison and vaporizing lead can make it more > available so you don't want to over heat lead. So, don't solder using oxy-acetylene or an arc torch. You won't however vaporise the lead with a soldering iron, so don't get too upset about this aspect. > It is wise to wash your hands and avoid breathing the fumes from > solder and rosin. Now I do go along with the bit about flux (rosin). I think I have given myself asthma over the years, because I have *never* smoked (err, tobacco etc.). > Lead poisoning can cause brain damage etc. so it is best to work in a > ventilated area. Advice good. Reasoning confused. Cross-flow fan, windows open. Chris Eddy wrote: > In both cases, the datasheets stated that the fumes are known to cause > occasional respiratory and eye irritation, which I have observed in > our shop. It also mentioned that unless the solder is ingested, which > is unlikey, lead poisoning is not a risk. Keep in mind, though, that > the new pastes used in SMT can easily be spread on the hands and > elsewhere. I tend to be more careful with the paste for that reason. Sound. -- Cheers, Paul B.

Just another quick tidbit, solder fumes also cause acne. At a place I co-op'd at, they had this huge thing with their safety dept. and had to purchase a fume extractor... -greg At 10:33 AM 01/10/99 , you wrote: {Quote hidden}>Ryan; > >I acquired the MSDS data sheets on two solders, the organic and the no >clean. In both cases, the datasheets stated that the fumes are known to >cause occasional respiratory and eye irritation, which I have observed >in our shop. It also mentioned that unless the solder is ingested, >which is unlikey, lead poisoning is not a risk. Keep in mind, though, >that the new pastes used in SMT can easily be spread on the hands and >elsewhere. I tend to be more careful with the paste for that reason. > >Chris Eddy, PE >Pioneer Microsystems, Inc. > >ryan pogge wrote: > >> hi, >> I was just wondering if anyone knows about health >> risks asosiated with solder. I.E. lead poisning ect. >> just curious. >> Ryan > ----------------------- Greg Cormier Kathmandu, Nepal Local time : GMT + 5h30m spam_OUTgcormierTakeThisOuTwlink.com.np ICQ # : 565465

On Sat, 9 Jan 1999, ryan pogge wrote: > hi, > I was just wondering if anyone knows about health > risks asosiated with solder. I.E. lead poisning ect. > just curious. > Ryan Wash your hands after work and don't inhale the fumes when soldering. The number of electronics workers is enormous, and has been around since before WW2, yet, no-one sued anybody over lead poisoning yet, so I guess it's relatively safe ;) Peter

>Wash your hands after work and don't inhale the fumes when soldering. The >number of electronics workers is enormous, and has been around since >before WW2, yet, no-one sued anybody over lead poisoning yet, so I guess >it's relatively safe ;) > >Peter After 30 years of daily, rather careless handling of solder, (holding in mouth because both hands were busy etc) I had myself tested for all heavy metals. A few $$$ later, nothing above trace levels. YMMV

dave vanhorn wrote: > >(holding in mouth because both hands were busy etc) > We've probably got enough in our fillings :-) -- Best regards Tony Multimedia 16F84 Beginners PIC Tools. ** NEW PicNPro Programmer and Port Interface ** http://www.picnpoke.com Email .....picnpokeKILLspam@spam@cdi.com.au

At 11:44 AM 1/11/99 +1100, Tony Nixon wrote: >dave vanhorn wrote: >> >>(holding in mouth because both hands were busy etc) >> > >We've probably got enough in our fillings :-) Nice safe mercury in mine. Dr reported all levels below "trace", so at least in my case, nothing to worry about. I started doing this stuff long before the current level of safety consiousness. It's nice to know that I probably won't be a drooling idiot before my time :)

Geoff Thornton wrote: > > Tony Nixon wrote; > > We've probably got enough in our fillings :-) > > There's more mercury than lead in your fillings! That makes me feel a whole lot better :-) -- Best regards Tony Multimedia 16F84 Beginners PIC Tools. ** NEW PicNPro Programmer and Port Interface ** http://www.picnpoke.com Email picnpokeKILLspamcdi.com.au

Ryan, one more thing to watch, if you use a solder-sucker for desoldering, be careful when cleaning it. The very finely divided solder can be absorbed directly through the skin- easy to prevent when you are aware of it. Cheers, Ken, .....vk7krjKILLspam.....southcom.com.au >Ok, thanks, >I think I will just put some type of simple cross-flow fan in my workspace. >dont like the smell of rosin anyhow. >:0 >thanks for the info. >Ryan

> Just another quick tidbit, solder fumes also cause acne. At a place > I co-op'd at, they had this huge thing with their safety dept. and > had to purchase a fume extractor... > > -greg I have asthma, presumably from 30 years of breathing solder fumes. I built a simple fume extractor for my shop with a meaty muffin fan, an activated carbon filter mounted on what was left of a gooseneck lamp. I just swing it in place when I'm soldering and get those nasty fumes out of my face. DON'T breathe solder fumes. -- Lawrence Lile => Median Filter Source Code => AutoCad blocks for electrical drafting => Brownout tester plans => Amateurish pictures of my family at: http://home1.gte.net/llile/index.htm

>I have asthma, presumably from 30 years of breathing solder fumes. I >built a simple fume extractor for my shop with a meaty muffin fan, an >activated carbon filter mounted on what was left of a gooseneck lamp. > I just swing it in place when I'm soldering and get those nasty >fumes out of my face. That's flux, not lead. >DON'T breathe solder fumes. >-- Lawrence Lile A good idea in any case!