DONT PUT YOURSELF AT RISK FROM SOLDER FUMES!
When solder flux is heated above 183 Deg. C, (or higher for Lead Free) a complex mixture of resin acid particulates (smoke) and gases are generated – this is called ‘COLOPHONY’ and is produced from Hand Soldering, Solder Pots and Fountains, Wave Solder machines and Reflow Ovens.
To fully understand the problem, we need to understand what makes up a typical rosin based solder fume. A typical solder fume is a mix of very small particles (smoke) and gases which can be explained as around 95% particulates (the physical smoke plume), and around 5% gases and vapours which can contain a cocktail of Acetones, Methyl Alcohol, Formaldehyde, Carbon Dioxide, Diterpine Acid, Carbon Monoxide and Isopropyl Alcohol. Note: Even ‘Synthetic’ and ‘No Clean’ fluxes can lead to serious lung irritation.
Once inhaled, the lungs cannot easily remove particle sizes under 10 microns. A human hair is approximately 100 microns in diameter but consider this – the largest solder fume particle is around 10 microns in diameter and the smallest is only around 0.3 microns (Note: you can only see 30 microns with a naked eye).
Inhalation of hazardous fumes causes many symptoms that include headaches, runny eyes and nose, sore throat, respiratory problems, asthma, dermatitis and acne, nose bleeds and even some can be carcinogenic (causes cancers). Some of these symptoms can occur several hours after exposure when at home watching television, and are not associated with work. This is called a ‘late asthmatic reaction’ and is often blamed on an allergy to the pet cat or dog !
Inhalation of hazardous fumes do also result in the unseen problems of reduced productivity and absenteeism, re-recruiting and re-training costs, operator compensation claims/litigation – many cases are well documented.
Solder extraction systems are designed to capture solder smoke and fumes through arms, cowls, cabinets or by a method called ‘tip extraction’ which uses small bore tubes attached to each soldering iron. This allows the smoke and gases to be captured ‘at source’ before it reaches the operators breathing zone.
Here at Vodex we offer a huge range of solder extraction systems that cater for one to one hundred operators, plus we can also offer a full COSHH certified installation service. All systems meet and exceed HSG258 COSHH regulations.
All our systems are suitable for leaded and lead free soldering, and for colophony based or man made no-clean fluxes.
Installing an efficient fume extraction system is so simple and not as costly as some think – a HEPA filtered system for one operator can be installed for less than £0.25 pence (GBP) per day – far less than a cup of tea or coffee !
Call us on 01489 899070 or email sales@vodex.co.uk for more help or free advice.
