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Registered Member #2939
Joined: Fri Jun 25 2010, 04:25AM
Location:
Posts: 615
Constant exposure may cause problems, but at the hobbiest level I wouldn't be too worried. I avoid the fumes simply because its unpleasant to breathe.
copy/paste from
The flux in solder (as well as additional flux applied to the joint) will boil and burn when exposed to the heat of the soldering iron. Although smoke from rosin flux isn't particularly toxic, it is an irritant to the lungs and breathing passages, and extended exposure can lead to health problems. You can avoid breathing the smoke from flux by not "hovering" over your work, setting up a fan to keep your face "upwind" of the work, or by using a fume extractor specifically designed for soldering stations. Always solder in an area with adequate ventilation to keep the fumes from accumulating. A room with windows that open is preferred. The lead in solder will not typically get hot enough to vaporize and become airborne. However, you will end up with lead on your hands after handling solder, so it is necessary to wash your hands with soap and water afterwards. Lead is toxic and can cause a variety of health problems. Children and pregnant women should avoid all contact with lead due to the severe developmental problems it causes.
Registered Member #65
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:43AM
Location:
Posts: 1155
Exposure level and time determine immediate toxicity, but repeated exposures are just like any other accumulative heavy metal poisoning.
Usually, things get worse the older the equipment you are repairing... e.x. Polychlorinated Biphenyl compounds (PCB) in liquid and "Plastic-like" forms (banned from most products in 1979) Beryllium oxide Thermal grease (1980s) Thorium Welding Rod (still in use) Mercury (still in use) Zinc borate Flame retardants (still in use) Zinc oxide fumes (still common in welded RoHS components) Most Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) are still considered toxic if leaking... (still, not even close to what an old CRT can hold...)
I would recommend taking a lab safety or hazardous material logistics coarse to learn about MSDS papers.
Fume extractors with chemical scrubber filters should still be used with RoHS parts.
Registered Member #72
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:29AM
Location: UK St. Albans
Posts: 1659
If I'm just making one or two joints, I breathe in before touching iron to solder, and steadily breathe out while I'm making the joint.
For a session, I'll rig up a fan, a 5" PC fan is plenty, to pull air over the work to the back. That way, by the time I breathe it in, it will have been cooled, and diluted 100-fold.
I would expect RoHS stuff to be more irritating, using as it does higher temperatures.
Registered Member #2261
Joined: Mon Aug 03 2009, 01:19AM
Location: London, UK
Posts: 581
When hand soldering recently I found I could direct the fumes away with a close 120mm fan running so slow it was just about stalling. Any faster was just cooling what I was trying to heat up.
Registered Member #15
Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:11PM
Location:
Posts: 3068
The solder itself (lead) isn't an issue as it requires a very high temperature to vaporize.
But the flux, what you smell / see as smoke, is the REAL NASTY stuff. You do NOT want to be doing hand soldering or any type of reflow soldering without proper ventilation, fume hood, or fume extractor.
Many of the chemicals in flux are sensitization agents which means they can create allergies / reactions from continued exposure. I know flux fumes really give me respiratory symptoms even when hand soldering a few parts if i don't use ventilation.
At the least, do what IntraWinding recommended. Keep some windows open and use a small muffin fan to direct fumes away from you.
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Health Implications of Solder Reflow
