In my opinion, the only precaution that is necessary is to provide good
ventilation for your operators, making sure that soldering fumes are
directed away from their faces. The potential danger is not from lead
but from the vapours produced by the thermolytic decomposition of the
flux. It would also be a wise precaution to ensure that operators wash
their hands immediately on leaving their workstation. Needless to say,
all consumption of food and drink or smoking should be banned from the
workstation.
Brian
Billy Bharath wrote:
> I read with interest the effects of exposure to lead, even though Harvey
> Miller provides an interesting side view.
> Trouble is we have a very small production facility, all soldering are done
> by hand, this has been so for about 10 tears.
> Could someone please answer if the following concerns need to be addressed
> :-
> 1. Exposure to hand soldering
> 2. Soldering environment, should this be revamped. i.e. suction tubes for
> fumes, breathing masks.
> 3. Periodic medical examination for employees.
> 4. Am I being paranoid and fearful based on all the recent literature
> floating around.
> 5. Is this the latest version of Y2K.
> 6. Should I bide my time and take a cue from bigger industry role players.
> Please understand I am a people orientated employer, where possible I
> employ people rather than buy expensive machines, I however do not want to
> be caught up in PRATAP's IBM example (litigation and stuff). My company has
> always used or investigated enviro friendly alternatives where possible. My
> fear is that I could be forced to change, this change could be expensive, in
> a small operation these changes could mean closure or retrenchments.
> any advise would be sincerely appreciated.
>
> Billy Bharath
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Harvey Miller [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 9:01 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [LF] Compliance Question/ The Lead Free solder issue has
> nothing to do with lead toxicity.
>
>
> Pratap's discussion of lead toxicity is completely beside the point.
>
> Of course lead is a poison. We are surrounded by poisons and other
> threatening
> challenges. That is why we have developed such great defenses. And, in
> turn, we have
> survived as a species, so far, in spite of our own suicidal stupidity. Time
> and again, we
> have followed leaders who have narrow agendas, not ours, in insane
> adventures.
>
> On a very minor scale, by comparison, lead free solder falls in the same
> category, I am
> very sorry to say.
> I wrote a report a couple of years ago that dissected the costs of lead free
> solder and
> compared those to the benefits. Everything reported since confirms my
> conclusions. What
> will we buy with over $100 billion U.S. for lead free solder? Increased
> energy
> consumption, increased toxic pollution load, unreliable electronic equipment
> are some of
> the answers. What will we gain in reducing exposure to poisonous lead by
> taking lead out
> of solder ?-- absolutely nothing.
>
> And the reason is simple-- we are already exposed to enormous amounts of
> background lead.
>>From 1922 to 1946, lead spewed forth from vehicle tailpipes all over the
> world, still does
> some places. All around us the soil is contaminated, but nowhere more so
> than in estuary
> alluvia. Yet lead is so bio-unavailable in most of its forms that the
> bivalves that live
> on the alluvia are not contaminated-- and they take in everything!
>
> Let me cite myself as an example of a good guinea pig. My formative years
> were spent
> during the years of mass poisoning by tetraethyl lead in fuels. Oh oh, my
> friends say,
> that accounts for you being so.... whatever.
> So, seriously, I had myself tested-- blood, urine, plasma, hair-- for all
> minerals, toxic
> traces and biologically needed.
> Lead was so low, it couldn't be measured. Sorry, friends, it must be
> something else.
>
> The answer is that lead and life dislike each other so much. Lead is easily
> chelated out.
> I take lots of Vitamin C, upwards of 5 grams a day-- maybe that helps.
>
> Lead Free is a great advertising slogan, though.
>
> Harvey Miller
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bev Christian" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 4:50 AM
> Subject: Re: [LF] Compliance Question
>
>
> Pratap,
> I used to work for Nortel Networks, which had over 20 electronics
> manufacturing plants
> world-wide. The one I was in, which I think was typical, used to have all
> wave solder
> machines before SMT. Workers were routinely tested for blood lead and in
> YEARS of testing
> no cases of even significant levels of lead were ever found. Testing was
> then made
> voluntary for wave solder operators. I would presume this was the case for
> other Nortel
> plants. If there were lead poisoning problems I think I would have heard
> about it.
> Anyway, the wave solder machines had a negative air flow, workers wore
> gloves and dust
> masks when drossing and drossing was done in a controlled, smoooooth
> fashion. This is
> probably typical of most major electronics manufacturer in the western
> world. And as Brian
> pointed out, I hope everyone is practicing good general hygiene before
> eating, before
> drinking, before smoking or before touching certain body parts when using
> the washroom.
>
> With regards to the IBM case, are you sure that was even about lead? I
> thought it was
> about other materials.
>
> I'm glad lead is out of gasoline and household paint, but I don't see the
> point of ripping
> all the roofing material off ancient English country churches. I think we
> have to have
> rational safety legislation. It always amazed me that people would be
> afraid of flying
> but would not wear car seat belts.
>
> Bev Christian
> Research in Motion
>
> The opinions are mine and not those of my employer.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pratap Home [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: January 22, 2004 9:09 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [LF] Compliance Question
>
>
> Joe,
> There are instances which industry would not publish, especially IBM.
> Women workers were given alternative jobs after they developed pregnancy
> related problems at one of the plants. More recently, a court case is
> being heard in California where some workers claim to have problems
> after working at San Jose plants for last > 20 years. Unfortunately
> these type of indications have following issues:
>
> 1. Takes long time exposure for symptoms ( since concentrations are
> low) to develop.
> 2. May be confounded with other non work exposures like smoking, long
> term medication etc.
> 3. May be confounded with your current living environment - for
> example some mexican workers were using chemical storage
> containers to store drinking water and developed some problems.
> 4. I have seen factory workers in India exposed to all kinds of
> hazardous materials and who in later years develop medical
> problems. Major companies provide safe working environment but
> there are smaller ones ( hundreds of thousands) that do not and
> workers pay a heavy price.
> 5. Even in US if you complain too much about the working environment,
> you get fired .
>
> So you see it is not a clear cut case where you can prove a specific
> chemical from manufacturing to be responsible unless it was something
> like a chlorine or ammonia leak that has an immediate visible effect on
> human body. The other factor is that some of the symptoms ( like slow
> lead poisoning) mimic other ailments causing further confusion even for
> medical professionals.
>
> We as technical professionals have to keep this in mind and should not
> oppose legislation that in long term may prove to be of benefit.
> It is very hard for manufacturers to admit that their products can cause
> harm to public ( cigarette manufacturers continued to deny liability for
> decades that cigarettes are harmful). Latest example is the fast food
> industry where it has taken 30-40 years for the effects to be visible -
> that effect is obesity of school age kids. The industry always claimed
> that their food is safe and nutritious. Now the obesity problem is so
> obvious, they have started some actions so as to minimize the impact on
> their sales.
>
> pratap singh
> 512-255-6820
> www.rampinc.com
>
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