![]() These tend to be more hazardous than the rosin-based solder wire. You can find solder wire with various formulations, including non-rosin or no-clean fluxes. There’s stuff intended for exotic manufacturing processes that don’t involve regular air, or processes sensitive to halogen. Manufacturers have formulations for all sorts of things, including reflow soldering, wave soldering, and even robotic soldering options. There are a lot of flux options out there. Not All Flux is Equal - Don’t Conflate Flux With Metal Use adequate ventilation and/or fume extraction. You are still vaporizing the same material. I’d like to see any data on how much of a difference this makes, but all I have to go on is the SDS, which is clearly not worse for lead-free. However, I haven’t seen any hard data on rosin flux at higher temperatures, just vague generalities. I’m not going to argue against more fume extraction. ![]() ![]() There is a lot of FUD put out by what seems to be manufacturers of fume extraction equipment. You need to run an iron hotter, lead-free solder wire tends to have more flux, and naturally that vaporizes a little more flux. This also creates fumes that are not great to breathe (the same fumes), plus a bunch of really bad stuff because of the lead: Sounds pretty bad right? Indeed, you should properly ventilate and/or use a soldering air filter.Ĭompare that to the leaded version with the same rosin formulation. ![]() P501 Dispose of contents/container in accordance with local/regional/national/international regulations. P333+P313 If skin irritation or rash occurs: Get medical advice/attention. P302+P352 If on skin: Wash with plenty of water. P261 Avoid breathing dust/fume/gas/mist/vapors/spray H317 May cause an allergic skin reaction. It contains this top-level hazard statement and precautionary statements classified by GHS labels: Yes, rosin-core solder creates fumes that are not great to breathe. Īnd here is the SDS for the leaded version of the same. Here is the SDS for the lead-free version, the same stuff I personally use. Indeed, much of the choice in solder seems to be around flux first, and leaded vs lead-free second. It turns out Kester makes leaded and lead-free versions of the same formulation. I picked up the everlasting spool of Kester lead-free solder I bought in 2011 and looked up the SDS for it. SDS information may include instructions for the safe use and potential hazards associated with a particular material or product ” SDSs are a widely used system for cataloging information on chemicals, chemical compounds, and chemical mixtures. An SDS is “a document that lists information relating to occupational safety and health for the use of various substances and products. So I spent a morning reading material safety data sheets (SDS). Saying “lead-free solder is more dangerous” on the internet adds to global misinformation that can actually cause harm. But that won’t stop me from correcting factually wrong statements saying lead-free solder is more dangerous than leaded solder. I respect a lot of these folks, and many have been doing this for longer than I’ve been alive. I’ll reserve from direct quoting a lot of folks defending their leaded solder. I’ve heard this repeated enough anecdotally, that I wanted to know the truth of it. Sure, you get less heavy metal poisoning, but lead-free flux is exceptionally bad for you when compared to what is used in lead solder. There is some misinformation being spread that lead-free solder is somehow more toxic/worse for you than leaded solder, because of the flux fumes. Suffice to say that lead-free soldering is a skill you can learn, and is plenty suitable for first-time solderers. I’m not going to write much about leaded vs lead-free solder skills or ease of use, because that’s less important to me than staying away from things that can damage my health, my kids’ health, or the environment. Before that, going back years, I was a kid playing with lead and had no information on proper handling (or on proper soldering skills, but that’s another issue). I switched to lead-free almost a decade ago, and went from being a crappy solderer to pretty decent around the same time. I 100% agree here, on all accounts (read through his thread): lead-free solder is better.
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