Radioactive solder? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: picofarad
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 10:15:45 pm
content: Hi guys, I'm new in this forum, even if I watched Dave's videos for awhile.Well, few days ago I saw this video, where a guy checks some solder with a Geiger counter and it measures some radioactivity:I've the same identical brand of solder (seems made in Taiwan), so I'm a little bit scared.My question is: even if the value is very low, can be dangerous to breath the fumes?Thank you and sorry for the poor english and the newbiness.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 10:26:15 pm
content: Quote from: picofarad on September 01, 2013, 10:15:45 pmAbsolutely not. The air in my city is so filthy, I clean it up by filling my living room with solder smoke! It works a treat for my lu

author: kizzap
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 10:58:37 pm
content: Quote from: c4757p on September 01, 2013, 10:26:15 pmMy concern is as towhythe solder is radioactive...my initial thought is it might have something to do with the lead, but I don't think that would be right.also don't tell me we are starting with this jo

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 11:04:32 pm
content: Aren't there quite a few metallic/mineral-based materials that exhibit some level of radioactivity due to natural contaminants? I'd be more worried about the flux...

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 11:07:07 pm
content: QuoteWell, most of the fumes from solderingareflux.Worth avoiding on general principles. If the radiation doesn't get you I'm sure burnt flux is full of all sorts of interesting carcinogens.

author: Matje
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 11:12:37 pm
content: Quote from: kizzap on September 01, 2013, 10:58:37 pmWhy not?Anyway, basically everything around you - even the air you breathe - is very slightly radioactive. Fun fact: coal power plants emit more radioactivity (through ashes) than a nuclear power plant.So stop worrying and start loving the bomb, ehhhh, wait, what... ;-)Well, no, the point is as long as the level of the radioactivity is very low there is nothing to really worry about. Not breathing solder fumes is a very good idea in any case, so use good ventilation and a fume sucker if you can.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 11:13:06 pm
content: Quote from: c4757p on September 01, 2013, 10:26:15 pmI love the smell of radioactive solder in the morning.

author: firehopper
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 11:13:22 pm
content: from what I remember from science class. lead is old worn out radioactive stuff.. granted this was like 30 years ago. so I dont know if the teacher was telling the truth, or not, or if I'm not remembering correctly

author: edpalmer42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 02:19:17 am
content: Wait....You mean solder isn't supposed to glow in the dark?Ed

author: PedroDaGr8
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 02:25:06 am
content: A dirty little secret, the concrete that surrounds you is often radioactive. In undergrad I took an advanced radiochemistry class which was taught by an incredible teacher. He explained how most of us are detectably radioactive ourselves and you can easily get readings from a geiger counter holding it up to a concrete block wall. The doses are minuscule, like thousandths or millionths of an x-ray.

author: kizzap
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 02:58:50 am
content: Quote from: Matje on September 01, 2013, 11:12:37 pmbecause why would they use lead to encapsulate radioactive stuff? ; ) (P.S. I do know it is because of it's density. I am also certain that there are other chemistry stuffs going on as well.)The issue with nuclear power however is not the emitted radioactivity, it's the waste products.Quote from: firehopper on September 01, 2013, 11:13:22 pmits what we were taught ~10 years ago...-kizzap

author: synapsis
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 03:03:12 am
content: U238 turns into Lead(200something) through radioactive decay over the span of almost 5 billion years.

author: crisr
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 03:03:48 am
content: Quote from: firehopper on September 01, 2013, 11:13:22 pmWell, if your teacher told you that like 30 years ago, most of that lead will have decayed by now, since, of the naturally-ocurring lead radioisotopes, the longest half-life is about 22 years for Pb-210http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_leadNow seriously, since solder is an eutectic mixture, there won't be any (significant) lead vapors / fumes at normal soldering temperatures. All fumes / smoke are from the flux, which normally is only a sensitizer. Unless you work with soldering 8 hours every day or do it in a confined space I wouldn't worry about solder fumes or bother with an extractor.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 05:01:10 am
content: Few thoughts.- Maybe the factory, where the solder came from, also makes TIG welding electrodes. (2% thoriated tungsten electrodes are common and slightly radioactive due to the thorium).It may have been in a environment where the dust could get into the solder.- Are you sure it's the solder and not the plastic reel? Plastic is often diluted with other chemicals to save money.

author: ddavidebor
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 07:11:42 am
content: If you have a geiger counter sensitive enought even bananas are radioactive.This made them even more tastefull!

author: picofarad
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 07:20:37 am
content: Quote from: Psi on September 02, 2013, 05:01:10 amThe brand seems to be Ku Ping, from Taiwan. Here's their website:www.kuping.com.tw. In the products page I don't see any reference to TIG welding electrodes. They make only solder, solder paste and flux.QuoteI haven't a Geiger counter, so I can't check by myself if it's the solder or the reel.However, what should I do? Should I continue to use that type of solder or buy a different one?

author: ddavidebor
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 07:25:21 am
content: you should really see a doctor because you suffer from enxiety

author: kizzap
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 07:36:04 am
content: Quote from: ddavidebor on September 02, 2013, 07:25:21 amI'm assuming you meananxiety, and if so, a couple of things:First, I believe you meant to refer to hypochondria, which is an excessive pre occupancy about having a serious illness. If so, it is a serious condition, which thousands of people suffer from.Secondly, anxiety is a feeling of fear, worry, and uneasiness, usually generalized as an overreaction to a situation that is only subjectively seen as menacing. My sister-in-law suffers from this serious and disabling illness, and I don't like seeing people make a joke on a whim that seriously detriments people around the world.-kizzap

author: MatCat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 07:43:21 am
content: The last medical X-Ray you had gave you more radiation then probably sleeping in a bed of that solder for your entire life will ever give you. There are a LOT of radiation types, the majority of them can't even penetrate your clothes, I have a rock of pure uranium ore in the shed out back and I don't even worry about it, let alone trace radiations that you will find in any metals.

author: PedroDaGr8
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 07:51:39 am
content: Quote from: picofarad on September 02, 2013, 07:20:37 amYou should stop worrying so much. Step back, take a breath. Likely, this solder is no worse than eating a banana, sitting near a concrete wall, etc. As with most things, the dose makes the poison. You are not in any danger as these levels are very very very low.

author: Nermash
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 07:53:04 am
content: For peace of mind checkout the Bionerd23 Youtube channel. She is real nuclear physicist, and if she find the dosage rates acceptable enough to roam around Chernobyl worst sites (like the hospital where the first firefighters were brought in and the Red forest), then you can rest assure that very very small dosage from solder will not hurt you much

author: picofarad
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 07:58:52 am
content: Thanks for all the replies. Yeah, maybe I'm a little bit hypochondriac, but I prefer to not joke with this things.So, I'll continue to use that good old solder without thinking so much.

author: Paul Price
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 12:37:35 pm
content: People are also radioactive. If you spoon with your spoonable, you double the radiation exposure from the decaying isotopes that everybody has in their bodies.

author: ElectroIrradiator
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 12:50:32 pm
content: I suggest people owning Geiger counters go and vacuum their basements, while using a fresh/empty bag in the vacuum. Remember to get into all the corners and crevices.Check the bag for radioactivity, right after you are done, and start thinking.Some (very) old CRT TVs contain a non-trivial amount of Uranium 238 in the form of an oxide.Etc., etc.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 01:38:30 pm
content: Quote from: picofarad on September 02, 2013, 07:20:37 amInteresting...

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 02:35:11 pm
content: Most lead contains a small amount of uranium ( after all at one time most of the lead was uranium) it also contains a small amount of silver, old lead contains a lot of silver making it viable to strip the lead from old roofs like churches and resmelt the lead removing the silver and put the fresh lead back on the roof, in the 70's my father restored an old house that had a lot of lead on the roof he took it to Johnson Matthey who did an assay and then bought the whole lot for a large enough sum to pay for half the roof.Personally I would be more worried about living in a stone house in Northamptonshire or Cornwall than sucking on a piece of solder, there the radon release is so high that the government had to pay to put fume extractors in the basements due to the high level of lung cancer being caused.

author: picofarad
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 03:10:23 pm
content: Quote from: amyk on September 02, 2013, 01:38:30 pmYeah, but I bought my solder 5 or 6 years before Fukushima disaster!

author: ddavidebor
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 07:54:07 pm
content: Quote from: kizzap on September 02, 2013, 07:36:04 amMy mother soffer too and she had to take drug for a while.But i will continue to do jokes about it until the world come to end.And yes, i mean hypochondria but my english suck in medical term.

author: ivan747
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 08:47:18 pm
content: Quote from: xrunner on September 01, 2013, 11:13:06 pmYeah, who doesn't.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2013, 09:26:36 pm
content: An interesting article about old lead:http://www.aspera-eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=418&Itemid=98

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2013, 12:53:17 am
content: Lead is basically fully depleted uranium...

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2013, 09:12:11 pm
content: If you are so worry about radiation, let me give you some advice.1. Don't fly in an airplane and don't ever take an X-Ray.2. Don't go into the basement of your house. Too close to ground hence too close to radioactive material inside the earth.3. Don't go upstairs in your house. Too close to space and you will receive more radiation from out there.4. Start collecting gold and build a bed room with solid gold walls a few inches to a few feet thick. That will not stop all the radiation, but will stop a lot of it.5. Avoid food, particularly stuff grown under the sun. It has been exposed to radiation while it is growing.6. Avoid meat. The cow/chicken/cricket probably have been exposed to the sun and thus radiation.7. Last but certainly not least - move out of THIS universe and move back in... well... a few trillion years. By then, the background radiation from the big bang will probably be too thin to measure.8. Oh, I forgot... Avoid breathing air...Ahem... was just trying to be amusing but I know I likely failed.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 07, 2013, 08:01:48 am
content: Quote from: Rick Law on September 04, 2013, 09:12:11 pmYou forgot to add. Avoid yourself as every one is radioactive.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 07, 2013, 01:48:10 pm
content: Radon gas !

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2013, 06:29:26 pm
content: Quote from: G7PSK on September 07, 2013, 08:01:48 am

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2013, 12:36:03 am
content: "it measures some radioactivity"Everything around us is radioactive, at low enough levels.

author: Fsck
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2013, 01:18:44 am
content: Quote from: G7PSK on September 07, 2013, 08:01:48 amYou could've just simplified: "Avoid life"As in, you'd need to be dead to avoid radiation.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2013, 02:43:15 am
content: You might also wonder if the video is faked.Why would someone fake such an obscure corner? I dunno; people are weird. Remember the popcorn-popping cell phones!

author: WarSim
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2013, 07:11:27 am
content: All these responses and:Nobody mentioned that there are several classes and several types of radiation and each one has different tolerances.Nobody mentioned that it is easy to get false positives from an improperly used detector, and there are several types of sensors that need to be used differently.Kinda funny people are worried about solder and nobody has any issue wearing a watch.Reminds me if everyone panicking about the nicotine in cigarets but not about the arsenic.

author: MatCat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2013, 06:10:08 pm
content: A set of personal protection bubbles, tin foil hats, and helmets for all!

author: WarSim
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2013, 10:59:24 pm
content: Quote from: Fsck on September 10, 2013, 01:18:44 amLOL. Oh no , not even safe then, in death there is radiation emitted during decomposition.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2013, 01:13:34 am
content: QuoteAbsolutely true.The only to avoid radiation is to avoid one's own existence. That means you have to go back in time and take out all who are critical to your creation.

author: Fsck
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2013, 01:25:52 am
content: Quote from: WarSim on September 10, 2013, 10:59:24 pmyou're not affected by it after you're dead. unless of course, you don't accept that after death, you're no longer influenced by the world (could be a bad assumption, humanity doesn't really have much scientific evidence about existence/nonexistence after death)

author: onlooker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2013, 01:11:49 pm
content: It looks like all are making fun of the topic and had no worry. But based on?If the fuzzy video showed the correct number, the reading was 200-400 cpm on the x100 scale. According to google, anything above 100 CPM will cause accumulative damage to human body over time.Then, there are other factors need to be considered. For example, what is the reading at the body distance, instead of, at the source and the type of the radiation. Some radiation can have up to 20 times of damage factor, and others may be blocked by a piece of paper or cloth.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2013, 02:34:20 pm
content: QuoteFor 99.9% of the time the "particle which cause 20x damage" isalsothe particle "that may be blocked by a piece of paper".In practice the only types of radiation that you are going to encounter are alpha, beta or gamma, while it is true that alpha particles do 20x the biological damage they barely get through a few cm of air so they aren't much of a problem.Unless youingest a significant amount of an alpha source, that is.The other particles with a 20x weighting factor are things like energetic neutrons or atomic nuclei - you really aren't going to encounter those outside of a nuclear research facility, reactor or A bomb.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2013, 03:01:48 pm
content: I had forgotten that I had this, it is from a whole load of bumph that the UKAEA sent me when I made some seawater gates for sellafield in the late 80' or early 90's. I never even had to go there just made up what was on the drawings.The chart shows how much radiation is from what sources, else where it states that there has been around 3 tonnes of plutonium 239 deposited on land as a result of bomb tests.