[Elecraft] Soldering Naked - Toxic Effects

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

The rules get tighter as the years wear on. Nowadays the fumes from
soldering are considered dangerous because there are lead oxide vapors in
them, and inhaling too much can lead to lead poisoning. 

Symptoms include loss of appetite, indigestion, nausea, vomiting,
constipation, headache, abdominal cramps, nervousness, and insomnia. Lead is
absorbed through the mucous membranes of the lung, stomach, or intestines
and then enters the bloodstream.

Sheesh, and all these years I thought it was work causing those symptoms! 

Seriously, it is worth paying close attention to the toxins in our
environment. Every year there seem to be more and more of them and the
cumulative effect is not well understood. 

I don't use a ventilator hood for my route soldering, but I do position the
work so I'm alongside it, not above it, and the fumes rise up and away from
both the work and me.

I readily handle wire solder but wash my hands as soon as I'm done.  

Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----

It seems to me that some may remember that glasses were recommended to keep
the smokin rosin from coating our eyes too?
Or, that when looking close at a soldering connection, the smoke would burn
a bit?
Flyin' solder was the least of our worries, making a good solid physical
connection properly soldered, was of prime concideration,
and one would be proud, when the connection held up under stress....even if
the stress was the result of a pair of electrolitics wired ...... in
reverse. But.. that is a story for another time. But.. the solder held.

--... ...-- Dale - WC7S in Wy