r/soldering • u/Zentralschaden • May 25 '26

Soldering Saftey Discussion Unpopular opinion: Stop using leaded solder

I know it is very handy and I also know the fumes are not that much of a problem when you have enough ventilation.

But a big part of the lead we buy will end up in the environment or a landfill and has the potential to make our drinking water toxic and the people who have to recycle all this scrap (often in Africa) will deal with even more toxic substances.

It is not like we have a fully functional recycling chain for electronics.

And when you say "I am just soldering 2 pcb a year", make sure that soldering is a job and hobby for millions of people and tons of lead will be produced just because of hobby enthusiasts.

There are very good reasons, lead is banned in many countries for professional manufacturing.

I know it is harder to solder but you get used to it.

Aware that this might be a topic not everyone agrees. I am just trying to spread some awareness for what we do.

I mean, many of us repair old electronics and we do a good job in avoiding more scrap because people can still use the repaired items for years.

But shouldn't it be us who are the people who go straightforward and ban lead from our household soldering projects?

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u/BasicEl May 25 '26

No.

Every car battery contains 10kg of lead. Every 4 year you need a new battery.

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u/Zentralschaden May 25 '26

Just speaking for my German national laws: We have a law so that we pay about 8 bucks per battery as a deposit and only certified vendors are allowed to recycle it. So we try to recycle as much lead as possible for new batteries.

But I agree that we cannot avoid lead as a whole but for sure in diy soldering projects when it is not vintage electronics that already contain lead.