The discussion is a long and involved one, well laid out elsewhere. I am not
an expert, but some of the highlights I have come across:

1) There is no evidence of lead leaching out from electronic waste (like pcb
assemblies) into the water table. Putting stuff into dumps and ground fill
is not good, ultimately, but the fact that the solder contains lead is not
relevant.

2) Substitute alloys contain silver - inert in itself, but scientists now
suspect that lower doses of silver compounds over longer periods of time may
have subtle but worrisome effects on fish and other aquatic organisms,
affecting the reproductive system in sensitive species. Researchers are
investigating the effects of chronic silver exposure on aquatic life.

3) Lead will be replaced by other metals which are far more environmentally
damaging to mine and extract.

4) More energy will be used to make solder joints -> more pollution & global
warming. Someone did the math on this.

It appears the better solution would not be to ban lead-bearing solders, but
tighten up recycling and product take-back legislation.

Peter
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Peter Swanson                                      Oxfordshire, England
Dynamix Technology Ltd
IPC Standards, Guidelines & Videos - Electronics Manufacturing Bookshop
[log in to unmask]    http://www.dynamixtechnology.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: Franklin D Asbell [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 17 February 2004 20:42
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [TN] Another view of lead-free


...curious, how will banning lead harm the environment? thought that was
supposed to be a 'good thing'

Franklin

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