If folks think lead is a threat to life on this planet, wait until we get
silver and copper dispersed into the biosphere in appreciable amounts.
Both silver and copper are exceptionally effective at killing
micro-organisms. While that may sound good, most of those little critters
keep us from drowning in our own trash and bio-waste.
It'll take about 15-20 years for the problems with the biosphere to start
being noticed ...
-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dehoyos, Ramon
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 11:37 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] Lead Free is not Free, is Costly
Good artlicle. A beginning of a movement in the right direction?
Lead Free -- For No Practical Reason!
So said the new release in Friday's issue. "Lead-free Threatens Industry --
for Nothing!" references a report by Harvey Miller, well known packaging
and PCB guru, "Lead-Free Electronic Solder: Why?" In his report, Miller
thoroughly explains the impact Europe's RoHS (Restriction on Hazardous
Substances) will have on materials and system cost, and the long-term
detrimental effect RoHS will have on the environment.
Lead Free -- For No Practical Reason!
So said the new release in Friday's issue. "Lead-free Threatens Industry --
for Nothing!" references a report by Harvey Miller, well known packaging
and PCB guru, "Lead-Free Electronic Solder: Why?"
In his report, Miller does an excellent job making his case. Unlike the
politicos, Harvey presents sound research based on scientific data. "If all
E-waste [waste from electronic systems] were dumped in landfills, lead from
solder would constitute about 0.45% of that E-waste (documented in the
report). If E-waste were 5% (a very high estimate) of all waste, lead from
solder would constitute 0.023% of total waste. That level is far less than
the 500 parts per million that the EPA considers natural background."
As many of you know by now, the adoption of lead-free alloys is driven by
politics and extremely bad science. So why is there corporate support for
the change? As Miller points out, "Most electronic manufacturers are silent,
fearful of appearing to be anti-environment." I believe that there may be an
even stronger reason for corporate silence - the inability of these
companies to compete in the global market if they do not adopt lead-free by
July 2006.
There's just one point in Miller's report where we disagree - slightly.
Harvey believes that the "inevitability" argument, the argument that we have
to adopt lead-free because of the European legislative mandate, can be
challenged and the mandate changed if we present data showing the high cost
of the change to lead-free to the European Union. First, like Miller, I
believe the change to lead-free is senseless, will be costly and will cause
long-term harm to the environment, but I also believe that we must continue
to plan for the adoption of lead-free solder - even if the scientific and
cost data is presented to the practical politicians in the European Union.
If efforts to table the lead-free requirement within RoHS fail, we'll have
even less than the 20 months left to get our process and procedures adopted.
If Harvey needs someone to stand with him to make the argument, he can
depend on me and many others I know. But, I strongly suggest, if you've
started your lead-free roadmap, continue. If you haven't - get started.
Ron Daniels
Circuitnet
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