Your
sentiments have been expressed many times over on the LeadFree forum as well.
And your point is well taken. Remember, there are two forces working here, the
forces of Law and the forces of the Marketplace.
With
respect to the law, put your thoughts on paper and send them to legislators.
With
respect to the marketplace, I am at a loss. I hope that the green consumers will
listen, learn and choose wisely.
Hello
friends,
I continue to be amazed at how much energy is being leveled
at the lead-free issue. Which is a shame because there are so many truly
important issues that are not being looked into. Especially given that lead in
electronics has never been shown to be a hazard or a problem to humans. (Lead
in human blood plasma has actually gone down significantly in the past 20
years) CRTs are a possible exception as the leaded glass to stop x-rays may be
an issue but that lead is at least bound in glass. (Alas, such the power
of fear based marketing)
In my limited research, lead in electronics
appears to account for less than 0.5% of all lead used globally on an annual
basis. It may be less than 0.25% as one soon to be released research report I
just read has the number at 0.2% or a factor of 10 times less.
(I know the IPC web site says less than 2% and it is true but not
accurate because 0.5% is in fact less than 2%. It appears to have come from a
US EPA study that was done in the 1980s and relates primarily to the US. I
think they will get around to changing it someday when they have the time. I
mentioned this to David some time back and he was going to have Chris look
into it but Chris moved on before that happened, I am guessing)
Remember that different profiles will be required for all of the
different solders you use as military, medical, automotive and high
reliability electronics are exempted you will likely have two or more solder
lines running several different profiles. Also be reminded that the lines will
likely have to be slowed down to get good wetting in reflow soldering and NEMI
is recommending a wave soldering temperature of 275ºC. You may wish to read
the NCMS and NEMI reports.
Remember also that there is no "world wide"
directive yet. The US is, however, going to be taking a science based look at
the issue. The IPC, EIA and EPA are going to do a co-sponsored risk analysis
of lead-free. If a small part of what I have read and learned is true
lead-free is going not going to get any green stickers due to the excessive
energy requirements for prebakes and long assembly cycles.
I have
nothing to sell or gain from all of this, no matter what happens over the long
haul I do, however, have a strong interest in truth. ( For the record, I also
favored lead-free on principle when it first came about, but my deeper look
into the matter has caused me to question the intelligence and rational of the
movement)
Best wishes and kind regard to all,
Joe