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Lead is still bad for your brain

neurofrontiers.blog

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Re: Lead is still bad for your brain

#161

Post by grumpy-de-sre »

maxbond wrote: post #143
copperx wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't scream at me, but what about non-industrial, hobby soldering? AFAIK soldering is not hot enough to vaporize lead.

Lead-free solder works fine as long your soldering iron is decent. Even if the lead isn't vaporized, you'll be exposed by touch and splatter. When I learned to solder I learned on complete crap soldering irons that could barely work with leaded solder, and I developed a prejudice against lead-free. But lead-free solder has gotten better, and investing in a Weller or a Hakko will save the hobbyist so much time and fru…

Damn right, there's absolutely no justifiable reason for using leaded solder for hobby projects today. Get a good iron, and a nice roll of SAC305 from a reputable vendor and you won't have any issues.

Re: Lead is still bad for your brain

#162

Post by bsder »

Tadpole9181 wrote: post #156
bsder wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even ICE batteries is IMO not a valid use. Why? I would posit that lithium batteries do way more damage to the environment than lead-acid batteries. Recycling of lead-acid batteries is very prevalent because it is economically worth it.

Isn't that implied by the context? Lead is fantastically bad for human health and it's worth the cons to use Li batteries to avoid pulling lead out of the earth and into the chain of human contaminants .

My point is that lead for batteries is aggressively recycled while lithium is almost exclusively pulled from primary extraction and rarely recycled.

> Despite the smaller supply of lithium, a study earlier this year in the Journal of the Indian Institute of Science found that less than 1 percent of Lithium-ion batteries get recycled in the US and EU compared to 99 percent of lead-acid batteries, which are most often used in gas vehicles and power grids.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/04/lithium-costs-a-lot-...

Whenever I buy a lead-acid battery, I always have a core charge and it is a non-trivial percentage of the total cost of the battery. I get that core charge back when I return the old battery.

Lithium batteries have nothing comparable.

Re: Lead is still bad for your brain

#163

Post by djmips »

gregwebs wrote: post #70
giardini wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was the source of your "toddler's" hi lead levels?

Unfortunately I don't know. We have gotten rid of a lot of old toys and made sure our kitchen and plates are lead free and did some of that before a retest and that may have helped some. We are going to retest now that he is older and not sticking random stuff in his mouth much. He still eats a lot of sweet potatoes and I suspect that could be a source. I also just got some of the new easy to use lead testing kits an…

Can you share where to get the easy to use lead tests?

Re: Lead is still bad for your brain

#164

Post by djmips »

grumpy-de-sre wrote: post #161
maxbond wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lead-free solder works fine as long your soldering iron is decent. Even if the lead isn't vaporized, you'll be exposed by touch and splatter. When I learned to solder I learned on complete crap soldering irons that could barely work with leaded solder, and I developed a prejudice against lead-free. But lead-free solder has gotten better, and investing in a Weller or a Hakko will save the hobbyist so much time and fru…

Damn right, there's absolutely no justifiable reason for using leaded solder for hobby projects today. Get a good iron, and a nice roll of SAC305 from a reputable vendor and you won't have any issues.

Working on vintage computers, it's unavoidable. Removing failed components like recapping usually involve desoldering machines which use heat and suction which creates spatter and waste inside of the machine and who knows maybe even toxicity that isn't part of normal soldering.

Re: Lead is still bad for your brain

#165

Post by djmips »

teamonkey wrote: post #99
copperx wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't scream at me, but what about non-industrial, hobby soldering? AFAIK soldering is not hot enough to vaporize lead.

Soldering contamination mainly comes from ingestion. Touching it, having small particles of lead burn off and land on your skin, then in your mouth (or eyes, elsewhere). Even so, by washing hands and wearing light PPE it’s fine. Because if that, many people consider the ban of industrial lead solder to be over-zealous. But that ban is in place to stop consumers being contaminated if they somehow touch the board. Also…

Yeah washing your contaminated hands is good for you but but for the water that you washed with and went down the drain.

Re: Lead is still bad for your brain

#167

Post by djmips »

alnwlsn wrote: post #66
Gigachad wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel the same about leaded solder for hobby electronics.

At least leaded soldering wire is mostly contained in a large chunk, but I really don't like leaded solder paste. Which is like leaded peanut butter, and easily spread around. All the new parts are designed based on a lead free process anyways, so you might as well get used to working with lead-free solder to begin with.

Unless you work on vintage gear...

Re: Lead is still bad for your brain

#168

Post by djmips »

Liftyee wrote: post #133

I've always wondered about whether I've been affected by this due to various known sources that I (mis)handled in times past. Are there any pragmatic steps I can take to reduce/reverse any effect?

Someone said to look into cilantro... Hopefully grown without lead contamination... That's all I got.

Re: Lead is still bad for your brain

#169

Post by pomian »

damnitbuilds wrote: post #2

I live with children in a very old house. I would love to be able to measure my children's lead exposure and check things like window paint or house dust for lead content to see how big a problem there is. How do I do that?

Pottery stores usually have a "lead test" kit. Quite simple to use.
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