I know lead is bad for you if you ingest it, but of the love of God there's lead in pencils. The solder I've got says "this product contains lead. Keep out of reach of children" yet, you have to hold the solder at times. Dangerous? Big deal? Does it give off harmful fumes when you solder? Just wondering... I rarely solder, but should probably get some lead free I assume in case I decide to eat it at some point.
All of the solder I've seen/used has lead in it. Of course the fumes are harmful, but I don't think they matter too much unless that's all you're breathing it in for hours at a time. And just FYI, the "lead" in pencils is actually graphite .
If you aren't doing much, then I wouldn't worry. If you intend to use it more often though, I'd pick up some lead free solder. It'll only cost a few dollars and if you're concerned about the safety thats probably the best to do.
If your only melting Lead occasionaly you have little to worry about. Lead attacks the nervous system and causes the likes of brain damage in the case of those exposed to it, unprotected for long periods of time. What you have to remember is that the Lead is used in Solder to bring down the melting point. ...In other words Lead-Free solder invariably contains more Tin which raises the melting point making it less workable on heat sensitive electrical joints.
Lead free solder is good with sour cream and chives, in case you really were going to start eating it..
I wasn't too worried about it, but my wife being Japanese is a hypochondriac by default, so of course she was wigging out. Trying to solder then in those ass-tight places made me burn some of the plastic though... that was arguably worse than the lead in the solder. I did have a headache. Only two more points and I should be done.
Burning plastic is really annoying. It'll ruin your iron, too, if you're not careful. Of course, I had to throw mine away when I was done, but I got bored and used it to melt plastic. It wasn't one of my smarter moments .
i remeber when i would solder at times id use those sponges that are put in U.S. saturn cases, of course that was a mistake as it would burn through the spong and leave out this fume from it that seemed rather harmul base on the smell. But all you gotta do wash your hands after each use. As for lead in pencils, a while back they stopped putting real lead in pencil due to the dangers it did to kids, most of todays pencils have graphite in them.
