lead vapor

G

George Herold

Guest
Hi all, Silly question, but I thought I would check with the experts.
On a different forum someone was asking about putting in a fume hood
for soldering. One responder said that you needed one to take care of
the lead vapor, and if you used lead free solder you wouldn't need a
fume hood. Now I never thought the lead vapor was much of a issue.
Low vapor pressure even at 300 deg C and there is just not that much
liquid anyway. I always thought the fume hood/exhasut fan was to take
care of the nasty fluxes.

Thanks,

George

(Googling the question brings up a lot of 'scared of lead' posts.)
 
George Herold Inscribed thus:

Hi all, Silly question, but I thought I would check with the experts.
On a different forum someone was asking about putting in a fume hood
for soldering. One responder said that you needed one to take care of
the lead vapor, and if you used lead free solder you wouldn't need a
fume hood. Now I never thought the lead vapor was much of a issue.
Low vapor pressure even at 300 deg C and there is just not that much
liquid anyway. I always thought the fume hood/exhaust fan was to take
care of the nasty fluxes.

Thanks,

George

(Googling the question brings up a lot of 'scared of lead' posts.)
Click to expand...
Yes I would agree. The vapors from the fluxes can damage the olfactory
sensors.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.
 
"George Herold" <ggherold@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:54152bf0-a14f-47cf-81e6-f575507f6a90@e6g2000vbm.googlegroups.com...
Hi all, Silly question, but I thought I would check with the experts.
On a different forum someone was asking about putting in a fume hood
for soldering. One responder said that you needed one to take care of
the lead vapor, and if you used lead free solder you wouldn't need a
fume hood. Now I never thought the lead vapor was much of a issue.
Low vapor pressure even at 300 deg C and there is just not that much
liquid anyway. I always thought the fume hood/exhasut fan was to take
care of the nasty fluxes.

Thanks,
Click to expand...
I guess it's better safe than sorry. Would be nice to see some studies of
long term effects of soldering.
 
Baron wrote:
Yes I would agree. The vapors from the fluxes can damage the
olfactory sensors.
Click to expand...
Got a cite for that? Is it long term or short term damage?

Jon
 
On Jun 1, 1:48 pm, Baron <baron.nos...@linuxmaniac.nospam.net> wrote:
George Herold Inscribed thus:

Hi all, Silly question, but I thought I would check with the experts.
On a different forum someone was asking about putting in a fume hood
for soldering.  One responder said that you needed one to take care of
the lead vapor, and if you used lead free solder you wouldn't need a
fume hood.  Now I never thought the lead vapor was much of a issue.
Low vapor pressure even at 300 deg C and there is just not that much
liquid anyway.  I always thought the fume hood/exhaust fan was to take
care of the nasty fluxes.

Thanks,

George


(Googling the question brings up a lot of 'scared of lead' posts.)

Yes I would agree.  The vapors from the fluxes can damage the olfactory
sensors.

--
Best Regards:
                     Baron.
Click to expand...

One man's pollutant is another man's perfume. Bring on the solder!

G˛
 
George Herold wrote:

Hi all, Silly question, but I thought I would check with the experts.
On a different forum someone was asking about putting in a fume hood
for soldering. One responder said that you needed one to take care of
the lead vapor, and if you used lead free solder you wouldn't need a
fume hood. Now I never thought the lead vapor was much of a issue.
Low vapor pressure even at 300 deg C and there is just not that much
liquid anyway. I always thought the fume hood/exhasut fan was to take
care of the nasty fluxes.
Click to expand...
From what I've read, you'll have more of a problem of lead getting into
your system via it rubbing off on your fingers and then licking them,
rather than inhaling it. It doesn't travel that way in this instance.

As far as the resins go, providing you're sticking to normal
electronics solder, I've read the resins are inert, but I've worked with
people who swear black and blue it irritates them.

Though the same ones say the simple filtered fans do quite nicely.
 
stratus46@yahoo.com Inscribed thus:

On Jun 1, 1:48 pm, Baron <baron.nos...@linuxmaniac.nospam.net> wrote:
George Herold Inscribed thus:

Hi all, Silly question, but I thought I would check with the
experts. On a different forum someone was asking about putting in a
fume hood for soldering.  One responder said that you needed one to
take care of the lead vapor, and if you used lead free solder you
wouldn't need a fume hood.  Now I never thought the lead vapor was
much of a issue. Low vapor pressure even at 300 deg C and there is
just not that much liquid anyway.  I always thought the fume
hood/exhaust fan was to take care of the nasty fluxes.

Thanks,

George


(Googling the question brings up a lot of 'scared of lead' posts.)

Yes I would agree.  The vapors from the fluxes can damage the
olfactory sensors.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.


One man's pollutant is another man's perfume. Bring on the solder!

G²
Click to expand...
I'm very protective of my olfactory sensors. ;-)

--
Best Regards:
Baron.
 
Jon Danniken Inscribed thus:

Baron wrote:

Yes I would agree. The vapors from the fluxes can damage the
olfactory sensors.

Got a cite for that? Is it long term or short term damage?

Jon
Click to expand...
Since you ask for a citation for "olfactory sensor" damage, I suspect
you can't find one. :)

To answer your second question, based on experience, I would say short
term. The more intense the oder the longer it takes before you can
detect a second similar one. Similar in essence to the way that a
smoker looses their sense of smell.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.
 
John Tserkezis Inscribed thus:

George Herold wrote:

Hi all, Silly question, but I thought I would check with the experts.
On a different forum someone was asking about putting in a fume hood
for soldering. One responder said that you needed one to take care
of the lead vapor, and if you used lead free solder you wouldn't need
a
fume hood. Now I never thought the lead vapor was much of a issue.
Low vapor pressure even at 300 deg C and there is just not that much
liquid anyway. I always thought the fume hood/exhasut fan was to
take care of the nasty fluxes.

From what I've read, you'll have more of a problem of lead getting
into your system via it rubbing off on your fingers and then licking
them, rather than inhaling it. It doesn't travel that way in this
instance.

As far as the resins go, providing you're sticking to normal
electronics solder, I've read the resins are inert, but I've worked
with people who swear black and blue it irritates them.
Click to expand...
I'm one of those people. The oder seems to linger for quite a long time
before it dissipates. Though its not just solder flux fumes. Almost
any fairly strong smell, cheeses for instance or some perfumes seem to
persist long after the source has gone. One smell that I find really
irritating is the one you get from a catalytic converter warming up
when a car starts from cold. That really gets up my nose... :)

Though the same ones say the simple filtered fans do quite nicely.
Click to expand...
--
Best Regards:
Baron.
 
On Tue, 1 Jun 2010 13:35:14 -0700 (PDT), George
Herold <ggherold@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all, Silly question, but I thought I would check with the experts.
On a different forum someone was asking about putting in a fume hood
for soldering. One responder said that you needed one to take care of
the lead vapor, and if you used lead free solder you wouldn't need a
fume hood. Now I never thought the lead vapor was much of a issue.
Low vapor pressure even at 300 deg C and there is just not that much
liquid anyway. I always thought the fume hood/exhasut fan was to take
care of the nasty fluxes.

Thanks,

George

(Googling the question brings up a lot of 'scared of lead' posts.)
Click to expand...
Many years ago I knew a toxicologist who spent a
year doing a research project in the lab where I
worked at the time. The first time he saw me
soldering, he mentioned the fumes problem. He had
apparently done some work on this in the past, and
(IIRC) he said it was the flux that caused the
toxicity he had been seeing. Huh, I always kinda
liked that fresh pine scent!

Anyway, I started using a fan to draw the smoke
away from my face. No filter, just spread it
around the room, but at least I figured I'd
reduced my dose of whatever was bad, even if just
the flux.

However, I now suspect the lead vapor may be a
problem as well... and I wouldn't be too
complacent about lead-free solder, either. There
seems to have been a lot more awareness of heavy
metal toxicity in the intervening decades.

Best regards,


Bob Masta

DAQARTA v5.10
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Sound Level Meter
Frequency Counter, FREE Signal Generator
Pitch Track, Pitch-to-MIDI
DaqMusic - FREE MUSIC, Forever!
(Some assembly required)
Science (and fun!) with your sound card!
 
Baron wrote:
Jon Danniken Inscribed thus:

Baron wrote:

Yes I would agree. The vapors from the fluxes can damage the
olfactory sensors.

Got a cite for that? Is it long term or short term damage?

Since you ask for a citation for "olfactory sensor" damage, I suspect
you can't find one. :)
Click to expand...

Okay then, I thought you were talking about a documented phenomenon.

Jon
 
On Jun 2, 8:15 am, N0S...@daqarta.com (Bob Masta) wrote:
On Tue, 1 Jun 2010 13:35:14 -0700 (PDT), George

Herold <ggher...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all, Silly question, but I thought I would check with the experts.
On a different forum someone was asking about putting in a fume hood
for soldering.  One responder said that you needed one to take care of
the lead vapor, and if you used lead free solder you wouldn't need a
fume hood.  Now I never thought the lead vapor was much of a issue.
Low vapor pressure even at 300 deg C and there is just not that much
liquid anyway.  I always thought the fume hood/exhasut fan was to take
care of the nasty fluxes.

Thanks,

George

(Googling the question brings up a lot of 'scared of lead' posts.)

Many years ago I knew a toxicologist who spent a
year doing a research project in the lab where I
worked at the time.  The first time he saw me
soldering, he mentioned the fumes problem. He had
apparently done some work on this in the past, and
(IIRC) he said it was the flux that caused the
toxicity he had been seeing.  Huh, I always kinda
liked that fresh pine scent!

Anyway, I started using a fan to draw the smoke
away from my face.  No filter, just spread it
around the room, but at least I figured I'd
reduced my dose of whatever was bad, even if just
the flux.

However, I now suspect the lead vapor may be a
problem as well... and I wouldn't be too
complacent about lead-free solder, either.  There
seems to have been a lot more awareness of heavy
metal toxicity in the intervening decades.  

Best regards,

Bob Masta

              DAQARTA  v5.10
   Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
             www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Sound Level Meter
    Frequency Counter, FREE Signal Generator
           Pitch Track, Pitch-to-MIDI
         DaqMusic - FREE MUSIC, Forever!
             (Some assembly required)
     Science (and fun!) with your sound card!
Click to expand...

Thanks you all for the responses. I was saddened to read (on perhaps
wacko websites) that people shouldn’t take up hobbies where they are
exposed to lead soldering. It would be nice to know how much vapor
soldering generates. (I’m talking about hand soldering here and not
wave or other batch processes.) Does more lead come off the 1 pound
spool of solder at room temperature on my lab bench, or the little
blob at 300 C at the end of my iron? (I wonder if I can find lead
vapor pressure as a function of temperature?)

George H.
 
On Jun 2, 7:06 am, George Herold <ggher...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Jun 2, 8:15 am, N0S...@daqarta.com (Bob Masta) wrote:

...  There
seems to have been a lot more awareness of heavy
metal toxicity in the intervening decades.  
Click to expand...
I think that's backwards. There's little unregulated use of
hot metals (in the US, at least), so most healthcare folk
never see a lead-poisoning case these days.
Even aside from legal restrictions, health insurance
coverage depends on compliance with good practices.

Thanks you all for the responses.  I was saddened to read (on perhaps
wacko websites) that people shouldn’t take up hobbies where they are
exposed to lead soldering.  It would be nice to know how much vapor
soldering generates.
...I wonder if I can find lead
vapor pressure as a function of temperature?
Click to expand...
I've found that plot (it's 10**-11 torr at solder temperatures), but
there's
two reasons it doesn't matter. Firstly, solder is an alloy, and the
vapor
pressure of pure lead is higher than that of the mixture. Secondly,
the air you breathe is NOT at molten-solder temperatures, and the
'vapor' becomes precipitate droplets or oxide dust before you
have a chance to breathe it.

I think the plot was in an ASME Metals Handbook...
 
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