"matt weber" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Oct 2005 15:15:46 GMT, "Frank Dresser"
wrote:


They have banned lead, but largely because of the fumes from the
production of the products,

I think the various lead bans are intended to keep lead out of the air and
drinking water. That is, no more lead in gasoline and no more lead based
plumbing solder. Much nasiter stuff than lead is used everyday in
industrial processes, and there aren't many problems. I'd think government
standards for industrial lead use would have to do more with exposure,
ventilation and training, rather than an outright ban. But I don't know,
and you might be right.


Pure tin solders have some very
interesting problems of their own, and it has been a very unpleasant
experience for the Military. Under conditions not well understood, the
tin will grow crystals sometimes, and the crystals can and do create
new connections that were never intended, usually with less than
desireable consequences...

Yep. Tin whiskers. Check out:

http://nepp.nasa.gov/whisker/

Interestingly, one of the recommended ways to reduce tin whiskering is to
avoid using pure tin plating and use tin-lead plating, instead.

Frank Dresser

I know something about lead dust in the air.I once worked at a factory
in Florence,Mississippi that manufactured batteries for cars and 18
wheeler trucks and lawn mowers and also six volt old style batteries for
older model MG cars.The factory had a lot of big ducts in the ceiling
and big vacuum pumps that pulled the air inside of the factory up into
the ducts and that air was filtered with big industial filters,the
factory couldn't let lead dust get into the air outside of the
factory.At regular intevals,our blood was tested to see if there was any
lead getting into our blood stream.Sometimes,we would have to wear
little Miners vacuum pumps in one of our hip pockets during our work
shifts.The little Miners vacuum pumps had a piece of clear flexible hose
and a clip that let the hose be clipped on our shirts up near our necks
and there was a little round holder thingy with a little special piece
of paper in the holder.The little papers were sent off somewhere to be
tested.It it was determined we had been working too long in whatever
part of the factory and we were breathing air that had too much lead
dust in the air,we were moved to another part of the factory for a few
weeks that didn't have as much lead dust in the air.It was a lot of loud
noises inside of that factory too and at regular intervals,there was a
van that had special instruments and earphones that we put on to see if
we could hear certain kinds of low volume noises.If you were in the
Military before,you know what kind of hearing test I am talking about.At
the end of our daily work shifts,we all took a shower and put our
regular clothes on and we left our work uniforms at the factory.Nobody
wants to get home from work and spread lead dust all over the
place.y'all think Iraq is hot in the Summer time,,, go work in an auto
battery factory and y'all will know what real heat is like,I Guarantee
y'all that!
cuhulin

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:34:27 -0500, wrote:

I know something about lead dust in the air.I once worked at a factory
in Florence,Mississippi that manufactured batteries for cars and 18
wheeler trucks and lawn mowers and also six volt old style batteries for
older model MG cars.The factory had a lot of big ducts in the ceiling
and big vacuum pumps that pulled the air inside of the factory up into
the ducts and that air was filtered with big industial filters,the
factory couldn't let lead dust get into the air outside of the
factory.At regular intevals,our blood was tested to see if there was any
lead getting into our blood stream.Sometimes,we would have to wear
little Miners vacuum pumps in one of our hip pockets during our work
shifts.The little Miners vacuum pumps had a piece of clear flexible hose
and a clip that let the hose be clipped on our shirts up near our necks
and there was a little round holder thingy with a little special piece
of paper in the holder.The little papers were sent off somewhere to be
tested.It it was determined we had been working too long in whatever
part of the factory and we were breathing air that had too much lead
dust in the air,we were moved to another part of the factory for a few
weeks that didn't have as much lead dust in the air.It was a lot of loud
noises inside of that factory too and at regular intervals,there was a
van that had special instruments and earphones that we put on to see if
we could hear certain kinds of low volume noises.If you were in the
Military before,you know what kind of hearing test I am talking about.At
the end of our daily work shifts,we all took a shower and put our
regular clothes on and we left our work uniforms at the factory.Nobody
wants to get home from work and spread lead dust all over the
place.y'all think Iraq is hot in the Summer time,,, go work in an auto
battery factory and y'all will know what real heat is like,I Guarantee
y'all that!
cuhulin

Well there you go. Mystery sol-ved.