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Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

medicalxpress.com

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Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#131

Post by klondike_ »

Syonyk wrote: post #67
jeffbee wrote: post #4

There have always been people on this site who think RoHS was a conspiracy. There are a few people who do not take the public health problems caused by lead very seriously.

And you can't, with a straight face, tell me that lead free solder matters, while we're still using lead acid batteries with dozens of pounds of lead in every car out there (to within a rounding error, and, yes, it includes almost all EV/PHEVs). The list of exemptions is very long. Lead free solder is objectively worse as a solder for just about any metric related to longevity. So you have to weigh the risks of lead…

Lead free solder is fine. When RoHS was first implemented, a lot of manufacturers had trouble changing their processes for the new solder. The result was a plague of bad, broken solder joints.

Nowadays, lead free solder is accounted for starting in the design stage. Manufacturers have had 15+ years of experience with leadfree solder and have largely worked out the issues.

Lead-acid batteries are extensively recycled. Electronics are usually just dumped in the trash, making the lead issue much more important.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#132

Post by mrob »

djmips wrote: post #26

Does anyone know the the risk is for electronics hobbyist?

Soldering doesn't get hot enough to make significant lead fumes (although flux fumes are also bad to breathe). The main risk from lead solder is from cleaning your soldering iron. Both the common techniques (damp sponge and brass wool) make many tiny balls of solder. They can be hard to see, and because they're round and dense, they can travel much farther than you expect by rolling and bouncing. They can get caught in clothing, and from there potentially fall into food.

I don't personally use lead solder for this reason. If you have a good temperature-controlled iron then SAC305 is almost as easy to use.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#133

Post by nayuki »

fodkodrasz wrote: post #106
digitcatphd wrote: post #14

Studies like these always make me wonder what the equivalent of this today. Microplastics? Carbon? What else?

> Carbon could you elaborate?

Probably referring to climate change / global warming. Carbon dioxide doesn't kill people by itself, but it can trigger floods, droughts, heat waves, etc. that will harm human habit.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#134

Post by slapshot »

trashface wrote: post #125
hedora wrote: post #6

I'd like to point out that, although it is illegal to put lead in water supply lines in the US, there is a loophole that allows it in hot water lines. As a result, for certain fittings, most big-box hardware stores only sell the leaded variants, and label them "hot water heater supply line" or something similar.

There is also an exception for leaded gas in small/private jets ("AVGas") so its used in some of those formulations.

No jets use or have ever used leaded products. Jets run on Jet-A, which is a close relative of kerosene. It has never been leaded. The purpose of lead was to prevent cylinders from prematurely detonating ("knocking") in internal combustion engines. Jets do not have any cylinders to knock; the fuel burns continually in an open combustion chamber.

You may have been thinking of 100LL (100 Low Lead) fuel for piston engined planes. Many airports stopped selling 100LL in January of 2022. The FAA has approved a lead-free replacement in fuels like UL94 that are steadily replacing 100LL.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#135

Post by clumsysmurf »

giantg2 wrote: post #102
clumsysmurf wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of my bloodwork revealed subclinical lead poisoning. Part of the investigation was to take the dirty A/C filter in for lab analysis of the dust. I had lead in that filter, so I moved out. No idea where it came from. EDIT: It was an apartment. FWIW, even new apartments can have other issues, like a brand new place my friend was working on had rampant mold issues (built & exposed throughout monsoon season). So you…

Who bought the place after disclosing airbourne lead dust in the house?

It was an apartment with central cooling.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#137

Post by pixl97 »

weaksauce wrote: post #58
aidenn0 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a stop valve that went bad and I wanted to replace it with a ball-valve because I prefer quarter-turn valves for shutoff valves. No ball-valves at the hardware store were lead free.

just a fair warning that you should close that quarter-turn valve very gradually when there is running water if you ever find a non-leaded version... water hammer can and will burst the weakest of your pipes.

And/or stick a hammer preventer in your piping in multiple places.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#138

Post by sokoloff »

trashface wrote: post #125
hedora wrote: post #6

I'd like to point out that, although it is illegal to put lead in water supply lines in the US, there is a loophole that allows it in hot water lines. As a result, for certain fittings, most big-box hardware stores only sell the leaded variants, and label them "hot water heater supply line" or something similar.

There is also an exception for leaded gas in small/private jets ("AVGas") so its used in some of those formulations.

> exception for leaded gas in small/private jets

Jets run on jet fuel (which is basically kerosene and has no lead). Avgas is used in many piston-powered small aircraft.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#139

Post by sandworm101 »

hedora wrote: post #6

I'd like to point out that, although it is illegal to put lead in water supply lines in the US, there is a loophole that allows it in hot water lines. As a result, for certain fittings, most big-box hardware stores only sell the leaded variants, and label them "hot water heater supply line" or something similar.

A few feet of hot water pipes in fittings won't create a problem. Think of the thousands of feet of pipe that water runs through, where it often sits for days, then spends a fraction of a second in a tap or shower nozzle. Worried? Just run the tap for half a second before drinking.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#140

Post by sokoloff »

slapshot wrote: post #134
trashface wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also an exception for leaded gas in small/private jets ("AVGas") so its used in some of those formulations.

No jets use or have ever used leaded products. Jets run on Jet-A, which is a close relative of kerosene. It has never been leaded. The purpose of lead was to prevent cylinders from prematurely detonating ("knocking") in internal combustion engines. Jets do not have any cylinders to knock; the fuel burns continually in an open combustion chamber. You may have been thinking of 100LL (100 Low Lead) fuel for piston engin…

> Many airports stopped selling 100LL in January of 2022.

Really? That is news to me. Googling reveals that two airports did that, both in the same county: Reid-Hillview Airport (KRHV) and San Martin Airport (E16).

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