Electronics > Beginners

Life expectancy vs Lead exposure?

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janoc:

--- Quote from: soldar on August 19, 2019, 06:16:21 pm ---People who need to take care are those who work soldering all day in a production line. That type of thing.

Have a suction fan pulling fumes away.

--- End quote ---

Flux fumes, not lead. Lead needs somewhere around 800 480 degrees C (EDIT: it was 900 Fahrenheit I have remembered) to form toxic fumes, if I recall correctly. Normal soldering temperatures are nowhere near that.

If you search the forum, I have posted a link to a study in the past that did evaluate the effects of factory working populating boards every day and working with wave soldering machines and similar - the lead level in their bodies was pretty much the same as everyone else's (i.e. people that didn't work there). The risk was minimal.

Lead is a problem if you ingest it (e.g. lead shavings/dust - some people love to hold the solder wire in their mouth!). That is mitigated by basic hygiene - washing hands, not eating on your bench, etc. Or when it accumulates in the environment where it could leach into water or contaminate soil (e.g. from a landfill full of discarded electronics). That's why RoHS exists.

However, the risk for someone doing electronics soldering, even on a factory production line, is very low. Leaded solder has been used for electronics for almost 100 years and no issues with lead poisoning are known - the concentrations as just too tiny to have an effect. Leaded paint, water pipes or leaded gasoline that has been used for decades are much worse.

ejeffrey:

--- Quote ---Leaded paint, water pipes or leaded gasoline that has been used for decades are much worse.
--- End quote ---

Right.  These all have well known ingestion mechanisms.  Lead paint abrades and released dust or is chewed on by children.  Lead pipes are dissolve into water flowing through them. leaded gasoline is released into the air when burned or leaches into ground water when underground tanks leak (which they always do).  Likewise I would avoid anything that requires cutting, machining, or filing lead which would release lead dust.

Soldering isn't major problem for the operator as long as the aforementioned hygiene procedures are followed. The hazard from lead solder comes when the products are disposed of, either by landfill, shredding recycling, or incineration which all cause their own risks.

james_s:
Leaded gasoline was probably the worst of all by a wide margin. It was atomized and spread all over the planet, during the heyday of leaded gas it was inescapable.

Gyro:

--- Quote from: james_s on August 19, 2019, 09:13:21 pm ---Leaded gasoline was probably the worst of all by a wide margin. It was atomized and spread all over the planet, during the heyday of leaded gas it was inescapable.

--- End quote ---

From the man who also brought us CFCs! Sometimes you just can't catch a break. :palm:

Mr. Scram:
Just bear in mind that children are especially susceptible to lead ingestion and may suffer irreversible developmental issues. Unless you lick your fingers after soldering you'll probably be fine but keep it away from children. Also note that while washing your hands with water and soap to remove lead is effective it isn't quite perfect.

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