"John Fields" wrote in message
...
On 05 Apr 2008 20:31:02 GMT, Jay Ts
wrote:
nospam wrote:
Jay Ts wrote:
Allodoxaphobia wrote:
Arfa Daily wrote:
At 30th tonnes, the potential environmental impact of the lead in
solder, even if you *did* dump it all in the ground, is minuscule.
And, where do these pin-heads think the lead came from, in the first
place?
It came from deep within the ground, in the form of lead ore, which I
think is much less of a health hazard than metallic lead decomposing in
a landfill and seeping into the water supply.
By this I meant that if it's deeper than groundwater, there's
a nearly zero chance of it getting into the water, or being a
problem in any other way.
Also, I had run into some information about lead toxicity several
years ago that said that naturally-occurring lead compounds are
not as much a problem as artificial (industrial) ones, because
living beings are evolved to handle the "organic" (I think it
was orthophosphate, but am not sure) form of lead, and can more
easily flush it out of the body, preventing bioaccumulation.
I tried just now to find that info again, but couldn't. 
Lead is an element, it is composed of lead and can't decompose. It is so
soluble that water pipes and roofs are made out of it......
Lead is an element, it is a toxic element, and it can react chemcially
to make toxic compounds. It can corrode when exposed to water,
and the corrosion by-products are soluble enough that lead found
in drinking water comes mostly from the lead in pipes and solder
used to hold the pipes together.
References:
http://www.epa.gov/ebtpages/pollairpolead.html
http://www.epa.gov/lead/
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/lead.html
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwh/t-ioc/lead.html
I went to the EPA site and did a search on "lead" because it
became clear to me from previous discussion here that I really
didn't know enough about lead toxicity to write at my usual
level of knowledge. As I've said, I know more about other,
more toxic, heavy metals, and lead has not been of big concern
to me.
What I read at the EPA's site confirmed that there isn't much
cause for concern with regards to the lead in solder. They
say that although there is cause for concern, lead doesn't
have as great a bioaccumulation factor as other heavy metals.
And they didn't say anything at all about electronic solder
or people who work with it, so it looks like those who said
they got blood tests that showed no problem are justified
to feel they are ok. (If it were me, and maybe it is, I'd
still get the test done that uses a hair sample, just to
make sure.)
Most of the fuss in the past was about lead-based paint and
lead from car exhaust. Both of those have been phased out.
(Although recently there have been problems with lead paint
being used on toys made in China.)
The EPA hardly mentioned solder at all. As far as I could
find, only with regards to water pipe and tin cans (where
it is also no longer used).
Looks like I was right about the lead smelting operations,
though. And wouldn't you know it, most of that is done in
the general region of the planet in which I live (SW USA).
By far, most of the lead in use is for car batteries,
so I don't see any need to give up leaded solder just
for that.
In the Wikipedia article for "solder", it is said that
smoke from solder flux can contain a little lead oxide,
and that the flux smoke itself can be toxic. So I'll be
a little more careful to have good ventilation while
soldering. Pretty simple!
Although the EPA noted that metallic lead does corrode,
resulting in toxic soluble compounds, they didn't say anywhere
(at least that I could find) that lead in landfills is
considered a significant problem, and there was no mention
of danger from tossing used electronics in the trash.
---
In my opinion, this brouhaha about the elimination of lead in solder
has been brought about by Europe's (led by the UK, of course) trying
to bend everyone to their will, once again, (empire dies hard) with
the UK leading the charge by claiming that all lead based solders are
evil.
Idiots die hard.
JF
You clearly know nothing at all of Europe or its politics. If you seriously
believe that the UK is responsible for bringing about ANY Europe-wide
legislation, you are very seriously deluded. All Euro******** is driven by
the likes of France and Germany, and our emasculated government just roll
over at every opportunity, and follow like sheep. Do you actually know
anything of the British Empire's history ? It was not about bending people's
political will. It was about having a world united in friendship and trade.
Admittedly, it was about ensuring that the trade was to our global
advantage, but overall, the world was a better and more peaceful place back
in those days. Now, we have 'superpowers' like the US, who want every
country in the world to become another US state, with the same language,
political views, religion, consumer and oil driven economies and so on. And
you accuse US of trying to bend wills ? Sheesh.
Arfa