Bev is right. It's the not so obvious things that get you the most with
lead. Watch out for the maintenance technician who's cleaning that
solder nozzle. Many a technician has taken a good ole electric drill
with a wire wheel and cleaned it up real nice. How he's wondering why
he can't have kids. And you wonder why its taking so long to get the
wavesolder machine fixed. The technician is still trying to remember
where the wavesolder room is. Oh yeah, don't ever borrow a tool from
one of those guys.
Best thing I ever found was those lead detection swabs from Lab Safety
and others. Just squeeze them then rub them on anything that's got a
bit of lead in it (or on it) and presto, bright red. Easy to use and
great for awareness training. Check the bottoms of your wavesolder
technicians shoes just for fun. Or the inside of their toolbox. Oh and
Steve after the 3 days you spent in your wave solder machine you
probably just need to spit on it to turn it red. :}
-Russ
My personal opinion is no soldering station should be without a fume
extraction system. Personally I love the smell of burnt flux. It means
were makin money. (and I got enough kids)
-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Bev Christian
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 1999 3:29 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [TN] Solder Fumes
Russ, Ryan,
I would be extremely surprised if any measurable air borne lead oxide
was
produced during hand soldering. Reactions like this are
thermodynamically
possible, but from a kinetic point of view are so slow that at room
temperature they essentially are not happening. In a project with
Rockwell
and others we only saw significant amounts of lead oxides on parts that
had
been stored for 10 years! Yes, more likely at the temperature of
melting
solder, but even here the length of time and the surface areas in
question
are so small as to not be significant. I would be more worried about
the
operators getting actual lead on their hands from handling the cold
solder
wire and then depositing that on/in various parts of their body during
bathroom breaks and eating (Hopefully not at the same time! :) )
because
of poor personal hygiene.
Now if you are talking about a wave solder machine it is a slightly
different situation. Here you have a large surface area and you have
hot
circulating air that could potentially stir up lead containing dust
sitting
on the top of the dross. The potential is higher here but still low.
The
real problem with wave solder machines and lead containing dust is
during
the actually drossing operation or during a full-fledged preventative
maintenance routine, which Steve Gregory has painfully shown us is
necessary.
Now back to the original question. I can personally attest to the
killer
headaches that a good dose of flux fumes can give you. Believe me you
don't
want that experience twice! So there's first hand experience for you in
that area. Keep your fume extraction systems and for heavens sake keep
them
in working order. In Canada they are mandatory and if you don't, the
labour
inspectors can pass out hefty fines to the solderer and/or the company,
depending who is at fault. I would presume it is the same in the
States?
Industrial hygiene testing can be carried out to determine the doses (if
any) your operators are receiving. We have NEVER found any lead on the
filters of workers doing hand soldering. We also have tested/do test
for
flux fumes. If you want more information on this, contact me off
TechNet,
as I am getting close to the hairy edge.
regards,
Bev Christian, PhD
Manager, Materials Engineering & Environmental Lab
Carrier Solutions
Nortel Networks
613-967-5407
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Russ [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 1999 3:26 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [TN] Solder Fumes
>
> Lead oxides form at room temperatures. Much faster when heated.
Makes
> dust which can become airborne quite easily. Any significant handling
> of lead should be vented and properly filtered. Just runnin it into a
> box and dumpin it back into the room can be very risky if you don't
> maintain those hepa filters, carbon absorbers, etc. You should be
able
> to find a whole lot of really scary stuff about lead on the internet.
> Just search on "lead poisoning". That otta get em off your back.
>
> Regards, Russ Winslow
>
> Six Sigma
> 1940 Concourse Drive
> San Jose, CA 95131
>
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.sixsigmaservices.com
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Ryan Chase
> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 1999 6:55 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [TN] Solder Fumes
>
>
> This question may have been asked before but I searched through
> the archives and I couldn't find anything.
>
> Does anyone know of any studies that have been done on the
> effects of solder fumes on humans? long or short term.
>
> I am attempting to "quantify" the purchase of fume extraction
> equipment.
>
> What I am asking is:
>
> What is harmful about solder fumes?
> As far as I knew, as long as the temperatures stayed below
> 1000 degrees that lead will not become airborne.
>
> Is there a government requirement (OHSA or WHMIS) that limits the
> exposure to these fumes?
>
> I have already purchased and installed the extraction equipment,
> now I guess I am trying to justify why I purchased the equipment.
>
> Any help is greatly appreciated.
>
> Regards,
> Ryan Chase
> -----------------------
> Ryan Chase
> Manufacturing Engineer
> GE Harris
> 403-214-4502
> Fax 403-287-3107
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
################################################################
TechNet E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c
################################################################
To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body:
To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TechNet <your full name>
To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TechNet
################################################################
Please visit IPC's web site (http://www.ipc.org) "On-Line Services" section for additional information.
For technical support contact Hugo Scaramuzza at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.312
################################################################
|
