I thought it was, or in the process of being, banned, yet I saw reels of it on the shelves of my local hardware store this morning and the man said it was news to him that lead-containing solder had been banned. He reckoned his suppliers kept him up to speed on legislation.
MM
Lead solder in plumbing has already been banned. In electronics it will be banned next year.
..but only in certain types of equipment (consumer & IT, broadly), and not for repair of existing equipment. It's not going to vanish off the shelves any time soon.
repair of existing
Will boards be marked with the type of solder that has been used? I can see compatibilty problems looming.
And of course I dont think China has signed up to this and where does most electronic eqpt come from these days ?
Dave
My laptop has the words "lead free solder" etched into the boards...
Lee
Interesting
Dave
A quote from the directive is:
"1. Member States shall ensure that, from 1 July 2006, new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market does not contain lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE). National measures restricting or prohibiting the use of these substances in electrical and electronic equipment which were adopted in line with Community legislation before the adoption of this Directive may be maintained until 1 July 2006."
from
Also
I don't think this will matter, as it will be illegal for the electronic products containing lead etc to be sold in the EU - so if they want to continue selling products here they will have to change.
Just a though but I'm slightly confused re the issue of lead and the ground?
I assume it was mined from the ground in the first place and I think someone said when in the ground it's pretty inert and on the surface it oxidizes and that is also fairly inert (I don't know, just thinking aloud)?
Not the same sort of problem as with say lead in petrol or solder fumes etc?
I have probably spent most of my life over a soldering iron (not in production though) and petrol, cleaning engine componets (benzene?) , creosote ..? ;-(
All the best ..
T i m
Lead dissolves in acid rain and is washed into water courses, where it kills things and can find its way back to us.
Hm. What compounds does it form when it "dissolves"?
Where does that leave us when there're churches, cathederals, houses and blocks of garages all with lead on their roofs!
Lead is a cumalative poison, that is it builds up in tissue in the body and does not go away.
Dave
Ah, thanks Dave / Rob.
And when it's in the ground in it's un-mined state is it 'safe'?
All the best ..
T i m
........ and aren't dental fillings made with a percentage of Mercury in them?
Sod the ground, what about my mouth.
x-- 100 Proof News -
Sort of. Its bound with oxygen as an oxide, it has to be ' reduced' by chemical process to get the refined metal form.
All my A and ONC chemistry coming back now .
Dave
Well that depends. If you are in a habit of drinking water that has perculated through the galena bearing rocks...
Personally I think there is rather a lot of over reaction to the toxicity of some heavy metals. Wander along the stream and river beds around here and you can pick up lumps of galena. Found a big lump the other day 1" dia couple of inches long, not very pure though as it's not a particulary cubic or heavy bit. Our water doesn't come from the river though, not so sure about places downstream like Hexham and Newcastle though. B-)
Yes, they're a mercury/silver/tin/copper/zinc amalgam. There's been a "scare" about it for years. Quite frankly, it seems there's little evidence it's harmful*, as it's been in use for over 100 years, and the amount of mercury entering the body from dental amalgam is very small compared to that ingested in food.
*If mercury vapour is likely to be a threat, I suggest that to be so you'd be at a temperature where mercury vapour would be the least of your worries.
Sort of. It's lead sulphide, not oxide.
Did you pass? When did you take it?
Mostly yes because it is deep under the ground. No poison is an problem if it's out of the way. If you are a troglodyte then I suppose it might be an issue.
Henry
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.