Roland:

I remember the debate about waterfowl and the findings concerning lead shot. 
I also remember some research into the alternatives, one of which was 
bismuth.  I guess they had to end up with a heavy element in order to get 
the correct spread of pellets from a shotgun blast and also the correct 
deformation/plastic deformation when firing slugs.  Maybe that also lead to 
the metal within bombs, grenades etc also having to be a heavy metal so the 
distribution patterns were correct after detonation.  So it's understandable 
how they ended up with tungsten.

What many of these "green" environmentalists do is read MSDSs to see if 
there is any toxicological data.  If there is no toxicological effect, it's 
OK.  If they see toxicological effects, then they want to ban the substance 
from the biosphere.  I was at a conference with a group of California 
environmentalists when one of the speakers stated that they should ban 
copper because it's toxic (no consideration of routes of entry, 
bioavailability, etc).  I asked if he got that idea from reading an MSDS, 
and he said yes.  I'll bet the same thing happened with tungsten - so I just 
looked up an MSDS for tungsten and it says in there that it is 
"toxicologically inert" except for some Russian studies where some pulmonary 
fibrosis was noted in workers exposed to tungsten oxide: 
http://www.cise.columbia.edu/clean/msds/tungsten.pdf

Amazing.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Roland Sommer" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 3:09 PM
Subject: Re: [LF] Concern over lead free munitions - NTC


This is an interesting debate. To me the main issue is the lack of research
(once again) into the effects of the "environmentally friendly" alternative
before making a call to change. Another prime example of a home goal caused
by the precautionary principle.

The origins of this issue are in poisening of fowl by lead shot when feeding 
on
the beds of swanpland and lakes. The article
http://www.teachingtools.com/H2O/LeadPoisoninghtm.htm is a good overview.
It details 280 lead pellets are contained in a single shot from a 12 gauge 
shot
gun. There is an average of 6 shots per successful kill. This gives 1680 
lead
shot pieces (minus those in the dead bird) that end up in the lake bed, 
swamp
etc per kill. This soon mounts up. The study found up to 100,000 pieces of
lead shot per acre. The study also cited 2% of waterfowl in the USA die from
lead poisoning caused by lead shot.

To then take this argument and apply it to munitions in general is erroneous 
as
there is a vast difference between the size and quantity of lead shot and 
the
normal size of a piece of shrapnel. Also the issue is with wetlands and
waterfowl, not lead leaching into the soil and water ways per se (which it
doesn't). Perhaps this is another great example of the loss of common sense
that seems to arise when well meaning people consider issues about lead?

From my research there are 5 applications where lead is a hazard.
1) Gasoline
2) Paint
3) Lead shot
4) In newsprint for wrapping fish and chips
5) Lead water pipes (if the water is acidic)

The common factor in all of these is availability of the ingestion path. In
gasoline, it is breathed in from the fume. In paint, it dusts and can be
breathed in or eaten by infants sucking their fingers. In lead shot, eaten 
by
ground feeding birds. In newsprint wrapping fish and chips and water pipes-
well go figure.

Where do I stand on the issue with Lead in electronics - you would need to
eat the PCA for it to be a health hazard. Occupational exposure? - more of 
an
issue with flux in hand soldering applications, oh and doesn't lead free 
solder
need more heat, ergo more flux fumes. And what about the lack of wetting
and the aggressivness of the flux needed???

Best
Roland Sommer

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