Lead in flebay parts from china?

[Chai]

Was wonder just how safe it is to be ordering cheap components off ebay? Is it common for sellers to ship components with dangerous lead content? 

[mikeselectricstuff]

Lead in toys - bad
Lead in components - not a problem. Often improves them.

[sleemanj]

Refrain from eating your components.  Problem solved.

[Brumby]

I'll add this ..... Don't inhale them, either.

[eugenenine]

Don't lick them, suck them or insert them in any bodily orifice.

[james_s]

Lead in electronics is really only an issue for disposal, and even then it's only really significant when talking of hundreds of tons of mass produced stuff. You're not going to destroy the earth if you throw a handful of lead-containing ICs into the trash bin.

[CatalinaWOW]

For a more complete answer to your question, yes many of the cheap components from China will have lead on them.  Not the grey market ones.  Not the counterfeit ones.  Not the knock offs.  But the salvaged ones definitely.  And to an ever decreasing extent the NOS (New Old Stock) ones.

And in line with everyone else, no it isn't a problem unless you are grinding them up and eating them.  Even the industrial scale production of electronics with lead solder was a very minor contributor to lead contamination in the environment. 

[grifftech]

If your solder has lead in it the components are fine

[jonovid]

Refrain from eating your components.  Problem solved.

I'll add this ..... Don't inhale them, either.

Don't lick them, suck them or insert them in any bodily orifice.

 
and the minimum age to start electronics is?

[elecman14]

The lead really should not be a problem. If you are really  worried/paranoid  buy an XRF machine or the cheaper alternative in the short run is using a lead paint test kit like http://leadcheck.com/.

[raspberrypi]

I do enjoy eating some of my parts. The goo in electrolytic caps is delicious. I like to spread Rosin flux on my toast in the morning. Tastes like pine trees or gin.

[eugenenine]

Refrain from eating your components.  Problem solved.

I'll add this ..... Don't inhale them, either.

Don't lick them, suck them or insert them in any bodily orifice.

 
and the minimum age to start electronics is?

When/if I ever reach it I'll let you know

[woodchips]

Is this a case of confusing tin plating on components with lead? Apart from anything used around lead acid batteries what components ever used lead?

Of course, if you shoot then you will be used to lead poisoning. Each shot gun cartridge has about 30g, 1 ounce, of lead and a usual shoot will result in hundreds of cartridges being fired. As they are fired the friction will result in lead dust, and this is then spread out over woodlands, fields and countryside. They are supposed to use tin shot over wetlands but do they?

[jonovid]

seriously I find lead is not a problem
 electronics have their own smell, it comes with the territory
i buy chinese by the bucket load at times , smells like polyvinyl chloride.
just avoid the milk powder.

[james_s]

Is this a case of confusing tin plating on components with lead? Apart from anything used around lead acid batteries what components ever used lead?

Of course, if you shoot then you will be used to lead poisoning. Each shot gun cartridge has about 30g, 1 ounce, of lead and a usual shoot will result in hundreds of cartridges being fired. As they are fired the friction will result in lead dust, and this is then spread out over woodlands, fields and countryside. They are supposed to use tin shot over wetlands but do they?

Lead was used in almost all components, normally as a tin/lead alloy plating on the leads. ROHS mandated lead-free, with exceptions for aerospace and military hardware.

[Monkeh]

Was wonder just how safe it is to be ordering cheap components off ebay? Is it common for sellers to ship components with dangerous lead content? 

DANGEROUS LEAD CONTENT!!!

Best find a way to safely dispose of those tins of 100% lead pellets I launch through the air. Far too dangerous to have around.

[james_s]

Lead really can be dangerous, it's toxic and cumulative, lead poisoning is very real and has serious consequences. As long as you don't put it in your mouth or inhale the dust though it's not going to get in your body in the first place.

[innkeeper]

Lead is just one of many dangers chemicals in electronics.  RoHS has gone a long way in making the latest generation of electronics safer. but many work with vintage electronic or electronic components with a lot of dangerous materials. Berylium, Cadmium, Hexavalent Chromium, BFR's used as flame retardant, and fumes from plastics like PVC, even PCB's in old capacitors.. list goes on.. Be aware and be safe.

[CatalinaWOW]

Lead is just one of many dangers chemicals in electronics.  RoHS has gone a long way in making the latest generation of electronics safer. but many work with vintage electronic or electronic components with a lot of dangerous materials. Berylium, Cadmium, Hexavalent Chromium, BFR's used as flame retardant, and fumes from plastics like PVC, even PCB's in old capacitors.. list goes on.. Be aware and be safe.

Be aware.  Be safe.  But don't panic.  Beryllium for example IS really nasty stuff if you are machining, sanding or otherwise disturbing the bulk material.  But it is rarely encountered in electronic equipment as bulk material.  It was commonly found in older switches, relays and contacts in the form of Beryllium-Copper (alloy with about 98-99% copper plus nickel and beryllium) which is not associated with any reported problems even though grinding or burning it could in theory result in Beryllium release and in newer devices as Beryllium Oxide in IC headers which is safer still.  Cadmium is much like lead.  If you don't lick it or do other strange things it is unlikely to hurt you.  If you take your equipment and store it in damp soil in the back yard it is bad for the environment, but this restriction isn't too hard on most hobbyists.

[james_s]

I've encountered beryllium ceramic insulators on a couple of occasions, and ion laser tubes often have a beryllium ceramic bore. From what I gather that ceramic can be quite dangerous if broken but it's not the sort of thing most hobbyists are going to bump into. Ion lasers are not nearly as common anymore since solid state lasers have taken over in the large format printers that used to use them.

[SeanB]

Cadmium is common as a green plating on military equipment, and is often also a chromium compound. Both are toxic in large amounts, though Chromium is a needed trace mineral in your body.

[CatalinaWOW]

Beryllium oxide ceramic is a good example of the panic reaction.  A quick google of safety sheets and so on will find many warning you of the dangers of this material, then listing the results of Beryllium exposure, and setting exposure limits based on the Beryllium content.  It is kind of like treating common table salt as a hazardous material because it contains Chlorine (an extremely hazardous material) and Sodium (a relatively hazardous material).  One of the sheets warns of the dangers of fume release when heated!  While technically true, BeO is a refractory material.  You really, really have to heat it to cause problems.  2500 C to melt it, 3900 C to boil it.  It won't happen in a garden variety fire.  While I agree that if you generate small particles of Beryllium by boiling BeO you will have created a truly hazardous situation, but I suspect that it isn't the biggest hazard you have to worry about in that case.

[james_s]

There are so many "OMG the sky is falling!!!" warnings out there that it's hard to know what is an overreaction and what really can harm you. Certainly substances exist that can make a person drop dead or experience serious effects after only a small exposure, but that doesn't mean everything is as dangerous as people say. I though the issue with BeO was dust produced if it is broken or crushed. I'm not going to break the stuff up to find out, but I do wonder how dangerous it really is.

[CatalinaWOW]

It is really hard to definitively say, except by noting that there have been widespread health problems noted only with people involved in smelting, casting, machining and otherwise working with metallic Beryllium.

I used to live in Tucson, AZ where one of Brush Wellman's beryllium facilities was located.  They made the news for a long time because of health problems with their workers.   Interestingly, some folks worked there for decades with no ill affects even though they were directly involved in fabrication.  Others developed severe health consequences.  Those others included directly exposed fabrication workers, secretaries and other workers in the offices with no direct exposure, and people living near the plant who had even more indirect exposure.  There are currently theories that beryllium disease only affects a part of the population that has a particular genetic component.  Since that component is not yet identified, no one can say if they are susceptible until it is too late.

One of the few papers on BeO that isn't well hidden behind a paywall mentions that BeO is a carcinogen when injected into the veins of rabbits, and when sprayed into the trachea of rats.  It also finds that no carcinogenic affects were noted in several other species including guinnea pigs, chickens, cats, and dogs.  Obviously they couldn't run human experiments so the effects in humans are unknown, but this lines up with genetic variability in susceptibility to beryllium problems.

The message remains.  Don't do obviously stupid things and then sleep well at night.

[helius]

Cadmium is common as a green plating on military equipment

I used to think that as well, but cadmium plating is a bright silver color. The olive drab is a chromate conversion coating applied on top of the cadmium.