"Ian Field" wrote in message
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"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
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"Rod Speed" wrote in message
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Ian Field wrote
tm wrote
William Sommerwerck wrote

The ROHS rationale was to protect the health of folks doing
recycling.

That's only part of it. It's supposedly true that rain (and other
solvents)
leech lead from electronic equipment, and it winds up in drinking
water.

Therein lies an example of why we have the RoHS BS.

But lead was mined out of the ground in the first place!

But not much of the drinking water comes from where its mined.

Not that I think it makes any sense at all to ban lead in solder.


Much drinking water in the UK was, and continues to be, supplied via lead
pipes, and not all areas have 'hard' water supplies that coat the inside
of those pipes with a 'protective' limescale layer.

The whole 'lead in the environment' argument makes little sense, apart
from in a few special cases like lead in gasoline and paint. Certainly,
lead in solder posed no threat at all, and removing it has, in my
opinion, been a disastrous retrograde step for the 'green' movement in
general, and the electronics construction and servicing industries in
particular. Using the stuff leads to increased production costs and
energy budgets, and often shorter product lives than would otherwise have
been the case when the mature and reliable technology of leaded solder
was used.

Arfa


Compared to raw lead, lead/tin alloy is relatively stable, making solder
was actually binding a hazardous substance and effectively isolating it
from the environment.


Yes, quite. I think I made the point earlier that, as you say, tin and lead
is a stable compound

Arfa