Soldering health?>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Question

I have heard that soldering can be bad for your health, even cause cancer? is this true, or what chemicals are harmful. Please let me know....

Answer 1

it exposes you to toxic chemicals like lead, which can make you sick. you should make sure there's adequate ventilation if you're doing this.

Answer 2

It will increase your exposure to lead, as well as small amounts of some other heavy metals, if you are worried about it try wearing gloves.  As far as causing cancer i think that it is extremely unlikely.  

Answer 3

Soldering might increase your exposure to lead, which has a number of negative health effects (though the carcinogenicity of lead compounds is debatable).  Some solder (such as that for silver jewelry) contains cadmium, which is also toxic and carcinogenic.

Because the harmful metals are used in metallic form, they are unlikely to enter the body in large amounts.  Just use basic precautions when soldering, and you should be fine: solder only in a well-ventilated area (also helps with fumes if you accidentally burn plastic insulation with the iron) and wash hands thoroughly after soldering.

You should also consider lead-free solder.  It is a bit more expensive than Pb/Sn solder, and a bit harder to get good contacts with, but is much safer from a toxicity point-of-view.