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 -- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Peter Swanson Oxfordshire, England Dynamix Technology Ltd IPC Standards, Guidelines & Videos - Electronics Manufacturing Bookshop [log in to unmask] http://www.dynamixtechnology.com ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -----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 --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 -----------------------------------------------------