An exposure evaluation of lead from wave soldering operations during the manufacture of circuit boards.
Authors
King B
Source
American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, June 2-7, 2001, New Orleans, Louisiana. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2001 Jun; :55
Link
NIOSHTIC No.
20041414
Abstract
Background: NIOSH conducted a health hazard evaluation (HHE) in response to an employee request concerning potential lead exposure at a circuit board production facility. At this facility, a 60% tin/40% lead solder is used in wave solder machines to secure electronic components to the wafer boards. In particular, two processes of concern were identified. One, a daily process, was the skimming of the surface of the liquid solder in the solder pot with a slotted spoon, removing any surface dross. A second, weekly process was the thorough cleaning of internal wave solder machine components and a deep cleaning of dross from the liquid solder. Methods: Personal breathing zone and area air samples were collected for airborne lead on individuals working at the wave solder machines, at various stations of the production lines, and throughout the facility. Surface wipe sampling for lead was performed on surfaces including equipment, floors, lunchroom tabletops, and ventilation registers. Wipe samples were also performed on the hands of individuals working with the lead solder after their normal hygiene practices. Results: All personal breathing zone and area air samples returned results well below all applicable evaluation criteria. However, surface wipe sampling results ranged from below the analytic limit of detection to a high of 1700 ug lead per wipe sample. Results from hand wipe sampling revealed a high of 52 ug lead per wipe sample, taken from the individual after normal hand-washing who performed the deep cleaning of the solder pot. Conclusion: Although exposure to lead via inhalation appears to be low, its ingestion is still very possible due to the presence of lead found on a variety of work surfaces. NIOSH investigators recommended increased housekeeping procedures for better removal of lead from work surfaces, improved personal hygiene procedures, and vigilance in the use of proper personal protective equipment and engineering controls.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.