Electronics > Beginners
Life expectancy vs Lead exposure?
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janoc:

--- Quote from: Electro Detective on August 19, 2019, 11:26:12 pm ---cheap white mouth-nose protector with elastic thingie,

--- End quote ---

That will literally do nothing apart from providing you with the feel-good reassurance. Those protectors are only against dust, they don't protect against gases (e.g. flux, lead or paint fumes). Even for dust they aren't great - e.g. almost useless against FR4 or similarly sized fine dust. Those things are really for woodworkers, construction workers demolishing walls and such only.

If you want to protect yourself against fine dust, you need a proper respirator and if you wanted to protect yourself against gases, then you would need a gas mask with a filter matched to the toxins you want to keep out.
Mr. Scram:

--- Quote from: janoc on August 20, 2019, 09:43:41 am ---Lead really doesn't dissolve easily, not even in acids or strong bases. So no need to panic over that - you most likely don't have anything on or near the bench that could cause it to dissolve in a meaningful time frame. If you put that lead somewhere into a landfill and let it sit in an acid rain or leach into water for years, that would be a different matter.

And those shavings that you clean out of your tip cleaning wool are way too large and heavy to fly far by air (assuming you are not waving the wool around). Those particles would need to be order of magnitude or two smaller to be a meaningful hazard.

If you are afraid that small kids could put it in their mouth and such - if the kids can get to your solder, they most likely can get also to the hot iron or sharp tools on your desk. I would consider that a much bigger issue than a kid licking a solder wire once or twice or touching the wire and then licking their fingers. You really don't die or turn into a babbling drooling vegetable from a tiny exposure like that. Unless that kid is doing that every day for a while, they will likely be fine.

Also, if someone is worried about lead poisoning from a leaded solder - we have lead-free solder too  :-//

Boiling point of a substance has literally zero to do with vapor forming. Water also doesn't start to evaporate only once it reaches the boiling temperature! Boiling point is only the temperature when the substance is evaporating from the entire volume (that's what produces the bubbles) and not only the surface.

Vapors can form even when the matter is still solid (sublimation - even solid lead sublimates under certain conditions) or liquid but below the boiling point.

(Pure) lead melts at 327°C and starts releasing fumes at 480°C or so. Common soldering (especially given that we use lead-tin alloys that melt at even lower temperatures than this) has no way to reach that unless you are using a flame thrower to solder.

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It's not about licking a roll of solder, it's about ingesting particulates like the solder balls that tend to form. This represents a relevant amount of lead although a single isolated exposure is unlikely to do a lot of long term harm. Particulates being under the desk or spread throughout the house as they cling to soles can be a concern.
janoc:

--- Quote from: Mr. Scram on August 20, 2019, 09:58:31 am ---It's not about licking a roll of solder, it's about ingesting particulates like the solder balls that tend to form. This represents a relevant amount of lead although a single isolated exposure is unlikely to do a lot of long term harm. Particulates being under the desk or spread throughout the house as they cling to soles can be a concern.

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Hum, clean your workshop periodically and don't fling solder all over the place in the first place? Those solder balls tend to be pretty macroscopic too. I can understand bits of solder on the bench but if you are worried about them being spread by soles all over the house it sounds like a major cleanup is in order. I solder quite a bit and for some reason don't have solder balls on the floor or in the carpet.

And teach your kids to not put whatever crap they find in the mouth. Frankly, in an average household there are much worse and immediately toxic things I would be worried about a child putting in their mouth than solder particulates on the floor.

But again, if you are worried about the kids, lead-free solder does exist ...
Mr. Scram:

--- Quote from: janoc on August 20, 2019, 10:09:05 am ---Hum, clean your workshop periodically and don't fling solder all over the place in the first place? Those solder balls tend to be pretty macroscopic too. I can understand bits of solder on the bench but if you are worried about them being spread by soles all over the house it sounds like a major cleanup is in order. I solder quite a bit and for some reason don't have solder balls on the floor or in the carpet.

And teach your kids to not put whatever crap they find in the mouth. Frankly, in an average household there are much worse and immediately toxic things I would be worried about a child putting in their mouth than solder particulates on the floor.

But again, if you are worried about the kids, lead-free solder does exist ...

--- End quote ---
We can disparage the risk all day long but it's an avenue of exposure that should be given some thought given the susceptibility of children. Though lead-free solder doesn't exist just to protect the children. ;)
dom0:
Personally I don't usually bother with the fume extractor for small stuff unless I am working with verowire, which releases rather toxic fumes when you burn the insulating PU lacquer off. I am one of those guys who inhales before soldering and blows at the rosin smoke (it's automated). I use eutectic lead solder with a mild, modified rosin core for most things. (F-SW-31/1.1.1/ROL0).

My fume extractor goes directly out the window, making it my neighbours problem. I wouldn't put too much trust into those little "PC fan with activated carbon mat" fume extractors.
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