Ryan, Have you installed the equipment on wave solder machines or reflow ovens? We use them on both. I have heard of several problems as a result of fumes from solder. First of all, the MSDS sheets / tech data sheets for your fluxes / solder pastes, do give indications of what can be experienced. These include headaches, eye redness, stomach aches, and severe breathing problems. The MSDS sheets list PEL levels for the ingredients in fluxes, and these can be taken into consideration. I think it is best to vent - not because of the lead only, but the constituents of the flux which come off during the preheat/reflow or wave phases. Mary Smoot Lexmark Electronics [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] on 03/11/99 09:54:33 AM Please respond to [log in to unmask]; Please respond to [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] cc: (bcc: Mary Smoot/Lex/Lexmark) 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 ################################################################ ################################################################ 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 ################################################################