ABSTRACT
Lead based solders have been in use for many years, but in recent times, they are being phased out. Lead based solders have generated environmental problems and the dissolved lead in soil is also poisonous and carcinogenic. This being the case, lead is being phased out in most countries. This paper is a review on the problems faced due to lead based solders and the legislations undertaken in various countries to tackle this problem. Legal steps have been taken in developed countries and some steps have been taken in India too. Legislations in USA, European Union, Japan and India have been discussed. A detailed view of legislations in different countries is discussed and the way forward is outlined. These steps would help to ensure that our environment is kept cleaner. It is hoped that these legislations would force researchers to discover more and more lead free alloys in the future.
AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, St. Josephs Institute of Technology, Semmancherry, Chennai-600119
2 Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri SivaSubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering, Kalavakkam- 603110
CITATION
SunderRaj JA and Ananthapadmanaban D (2024) Environmental Aspects of Lead Free Soldering and Study of Legislations Banning Lead Based Solders in Different Countries. Environ Sci Arch 3(1): 87-94.
REFERENCES
Baş H, Kalender Y, Pandir D and Kalender S (2015) Effects of lead nitrate and sodium selenite on DNA damage and oxidative stress in diabetic and non- diabetic rat erythrocytes and leucocytes. Environ Toxicol Pharmacol 39: 1019–1026.
Bergeson LL (2008) The proposed lead NAAQS: Is consideration of cost in the clean air acts future? Environmental Quality Management 18(1): 79–84.
Büsselberg D, Evans ML, Haas HL and Carpenter DO (1993) Blockade of mammalian and invertebrate calcium channels by lead. Neurotoxicology 14(2): 249–58.
Chi YT, Mohd AAMS and Norainiza S (2020) The Study of Interfacial Reaction between Sn Ag Cu (SAC) Lead-free Solder Alloys and Copper Substrate: A Short Review. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 864: 012182.
Cohen, AR, Trotzky, MS and Pincus, D (1981) Reassessment of the Microcytic Anemia of Lead Poisoning Pediatrics 67(6): 904–906.
Hassan NE and Mohammed SJ (2023) Assessment of Ground Water Pollution by Heavy Metals in Some Residential Areas in Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Environ Sci Arch 2(STI-2):34-44.
He Y, vonLampe K, Wood L and Kurti M (2015) Investigation of lead and cadmium in counterfeit cigarettes seized in the United States. Food and Chemical Toxicology 81: 40–45.
Jianhao W (2019) The reliability of lead‑free solder joint subjected to special environment. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 30: 9065–9086.
Jurdziak M, Gać P, Martynowicz H and Poręba R (2015) Function of respiratory system evaluated using selected spirometry parameters in persons occupationally exposed to lead without evident health problems. Environ Toxicity Pharmacol 39: 1034–1040.
Jürgen R, Kyle GW, et al. (2015) Transferring lead-free piezo electric ceramics into application. Journal of the European Ceramic Society 35(6): 1659-1681.
Karri SK, Saper RB and Kales SN (2008) Lead Encephalopathy Due to Traditional Medicines. Curr Drug Saf 3: 54–59.
Kaur S, Gupta H and Singh Z (2023) Heavy Metal Remediation: A much-needed Strategy for Removal of Environmental Contaminants. Environ Sci Arch 2(STI-2):45-53.
Langat FK, Kibet JK and Okanga FI (2024) Heavy Metal Analysis in the Ground Water of Kerio Valley Sub-Water Basin, Baringo County, Kenya. Environ Sci Arch 3(1): 58-66.
Levin R, Brown MJ, Kashtock ME, et al. (2008) Lead Exposuresin U.S. Children, 2008: Implications for prevention. Environ Health Perspect 116:1285–1293.
Lv C, Xu Y, Wang J, et al. (2015) Dysplastic changes in erythroid precursors as a manifestation of lead poisoning: report of a case and review of literature. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology. 8: 818–23.
Mahaffey KR (1990) Environmental lead toxicity: nutrition as a component of intervention. Environ Health Perspect 89: 75–78.
Mai FM (2006) Beethoven’s terminal illness and death. The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. 36: 258–63.
Marino PE, Landrigan PJ, Graef J, et al. (1990) A case report of lead paint poisoning during renovation of a Victorian farmhouse. The American Journal of Public Health 80:1183–1185.
Moore MR (1977) Lead in drinking water in soft water areas -health hazards. Science of the Total Environment 7: 109–115.
Nan J, Liang Z, et al. (2019) Reliability issues of lead-free solder joints in electronic devices. Science and Technology of Advanced Materials 20(1): 876-901.
Needleman HL, Schell A, Bellinger D, Leviton A and Allred EN (1990) The long- term effects of exposure to low doses of lead in childhood -An 11-year follow-up report. The New England Journal of Medicine 322: 83–88.
Pecht M, Fukuda Y and Rajagopal S (2004) The impact of lead-free legislation exemptions on the electronics industry. IEEE Transactions on Electronics Packaging Manufacturing 27(4): 221-232.
Riaz S, Virk N, Manzoor F and Ali Z (2023) Insects and Arachnids as Bioindicators of Heavy Metal Toxicity in Lahore. Environ Sci Arch 2(STI-2):23-33.
Schoeters G, Hond ED, Dhooge W, Larebeke NV and Leijs M (2008) Endocrine Disruptors and Abnormalities of Pubertal Development. Basic and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology 102: 168–175.
Shahana A, Callie WB and Roger C (2021) The evolution of consumer electronic waste in the United States. Journal of Industrial Ecology 25(3): 693-706.
Shuang L, Xue S and Zhong S (2019) Properties and microstructure of Sn–0.7Cu–0.05Ni lead-free solders with rare earth Nd addition. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 30:1400–1410.
Singh Z and Puri P (2023) Biochar as a Versatile and Beneficial Soil Amendment: Recent Approaches. Environ Sci Arch 2(2):86-90.
Sokol RZ and Berman N (1991) The effect of age of exposure on lead-induced testicular toxicity. Toxicology 69: 269–78.
Sunil H (2008) Green Electronics through Legislation and Lead Free Soldering. Clean 36(2): 145–151.
Tian J, Hong C and Hong L (2019) Effect of Rare Earth Metals on the Properties of Zn-20Sn High-Temperature Lead-Free Solder. Journal of Electronic Materials 48(5): 2685–2690.
Wu, CML, Yu DQ, Law, CMT (2002) Microstructure and mechanical properties of new lead-free Sn-Cu-RE solder alloys. Journal of electronic materials 31(9): 928–932.
Yi Li K, ik Moon and Wong CP (2005) Electronics Without Lead. Science 308(5727): 1419-1420.
License: Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. Visit for more details http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.