Soldering fumes / show me your soldering station!

[Jwar]

I just blow it away with my mouth. LOL. I'm probably going to get brain damage.

[eatyourguitar]

They all died of cancer actually. It is correlated. I counted 4 out of 8 people we lost in the synth scene. Brain and lung cancer. The others were unknown, car accident, suicide, drugs + liver problems. this is why you should have a plan. Also, don't do it till you are 60.

[Jwar]

Damn dude, that's hardcore. I'm getting fan. Fuck that.

[Bartimaeus]

https://www.amazon.com/Soldering-Extrac ... 00VX8RXVM/

something like this seems worth the money

[eatyourguitar]

You need a big fan. You need to get it outside. I used a custom exhaust for a window I built from fans pulled from a garbage dehumidifier. A scrap piece of plywood. Now I'm pretty much almost outside plus I have a polycarbonate face shield so I'm not breathing anything.

[frodog]

eatyourguitar, I don't think you're being accurate. After doing some research, I'm not seeing any studies mention cancer at all. Saying that "it is correlated" based on knowing of "4 out of 8 people" who died of "brain and lung cancer" is complete speculation. The worst I've been able to find is increased risk of asthma ["at least 20% of the employees working in the soldering area show clinical symptoms of asthma caused by the work environment" - https://www.elexp.com/media/wysiwyg/cms ... azards.PDF] along with allergic hypersensitivity, nose and eye irritation and reduced sperm quality (lead).

I don't think you need to sacrifice a whole window to install a big fan either. If that works for you, cool, but I think most hobbyists/small builders will do just fine with a compact solution.

[eatyourguitar]

anyone who knows anything about science knows that the study was flawed. however, if we take a venn diagram of people I know intersecting people that died, intersecting deaths I know of, intersecting people who where soldering every day for 40 years, intersecting the synth scene. that data set has 8 people in it. I included the unknowns so that I don't do anything to the raw data. I %100 agree that my statements were and are anecdotal. I thought that would be obvious on the face of the matter. however, I can show a good example that gives me good reason to include this information.

at this time it is not a medically accepted theory that there is a correlation or pathology connecting extreme high dose long term use of anabolic steroids with brain cancer. however, something like 5 out of 8 of the world champion competitors in the world's strongest man tournament who had died between 2005 and 2015, died of brain cancer. the people who sell and or use performance enhancing drugs have much more data on this than any researcher. because the use of the drug in the united states is prohibited by criminal law, no one has a dataset like this in any medical journal. even if you could do a study, pumping test subjects full of test alone doesn't recreate the conditions that are believed to be the cause of the brain cancer. one of them died in his sleep. there are many reasons why these extreme athletes bodies are being pushed to absolute failure. but if the drug dealers and coach say they know because of a gut feeling, there could be something to that.

very little is known about psychiatric conditions that involve patients giving unreliable responses. paramedics don't know how to treat people under the influence of new designer street drugs. there is much that is beyond the reach of science for now. but I think for me, I have made up my mind not to breath this stuff in. I made up my mind that it can cause health problems which you also confirmed in your research. I absolutely agree that my observation is not proof and not even evidence. but if you have very little data to go on, you can use it to the best of your ability or you can ignore it. those are both perfectly acceptable courses of action for any scientist. cigarettes had no medically accepted health risks for more than 20 years. there was no evidence that cigarettes caused lung cancer. how many millions of people died because of this blind confidence in the scientific method? someone needs to be the first person to enter any new idea into the general consensus for consideration. we can't all depend on someone else. that would make us headless.

[crochambeau]

If I was not so monumentally tired of obtuse pigheadery in the rest of world I would take a stab at weaving a "maybe synths and exercise cause brain cancer" argument.

I've seen reports that (some) RoHS solder formulations are actually more toxic in the installation phase, making air handling a more pressing concern.

I do think that if your process, whatever it is, is perceptibly impacting you (outside of repetition fatigue) that a serious assessment of your work conditions is in order.

No one is going to engineer their way out of the brain cancer corner though, especially with the suspended burn products that are so popular among motorists/etc. Embrace life and live it to the fullest.

[eatyourguitar]

I'm not forcing my opinion on anyone. Never was. When you say pigheaded I'm not sure if you are talking about people in this thread or in the world etc..?

[crochambeau]

I'm not forcing my opinion on anyone. Never was. When you say pigheaded I'm not sure if you are talking about people in this thread or in the world etc..?

In my opinion, opinions are impossible to enforce upon others.

If I was not so monumentally tired of obtuse pigheadery in the rest of world

I understand it can be read in a variety of ways, but that line I wrote this morning was pretty WYSIWYG, at least insofar as my intent was concerned. I could have framed it "Due to the pigheadedness in the rest of the world (regarding common sense, human decency, and trusting in science - that sort of thing) I'm too fucking tired to even step to satire, even though such a delicious path has been paved here", but that sounds almost pompous to me in my post sunshine daze.

I'd say do what needs done to stay safe, but don't stop doing what you love for lack of a work around to a problem. Troubleshooting is a practiced skill, and sometimes the most direct path through an immediate obstacle requires slumming it. AKA Don't let perfect get in the way of good.

[Jwar]

I know one thing. Breathing in any foreign anything is bad for you. So, regardless of if it will or does cause cancer directly, it's still bad. I was just reading some studies on MIG welding and soldering and the studies all support a lower lung function or pulmonary issues of different kinds. I mean, if you're using lead solder (which I don't know about you but I do), then it is toxic. So, maybe I switch solder and stop being so old? I have lead free solder as well, but it doesn't seem to work the same way. That could be a brand issue and me just being old.


Anyway, regardless I appreciate the info. I never even thought about it and I need to. I vent my laser machine for the same reason, so it makes sense to not introduce toxic fumes to my dome over and over. LOL.