Lead-free wire soldering?

... Did you know Mandrake that there are plans to fluoridate children's ice cream? Children's ice cream, think about it. ... I can not stand idly by while communist subversion saps and impurifies our precious bodily fluids. ... Sorry, I couldn't resist. Dr. Stangelove is my favorite movie,

Mark

One of my favorites, also ;-)

...Jim Thompson

Our really ancient ancestors rarely lived past 30.

Hello Barry,

It sure looks like that. Similar to the licensing craze we have seen in the US. "To safeguard the public blah blah blah..." Proof? Pretty much zilch.

Once the politicos realize that they goofed up big time they may pull some emergency brakes. Usually these come in the form of more generous exemptions. To save face they likely won't really repeal a law. If they don't correct anything then jobs might move out of Europe at an unheard pace and the unions will be all over them.

Regards, Joerg

You are correct, the implementation date has slipped, may slip again, and exemptions are yet to be dealt with.

It's telling that the military, national security, telecoms infrastructure, etc have been given exemptions. I keep asking lead-free seminar presenters "Why" ? and don't get good answers.

There is the big bogey of "tin whiskers" nobody seems to know how bad this may get, or even what causes and propagates it, but I have seen it written that it was a big problem in some industries 60-70 years ago, and was bought under control by adding lead !

One thing is for sure, if this whole lead-free thing turns out to be a disaster, the euro-mandarins will take milliseconds to write legislation so as to avoid all liability.

Barry Lennox

Fluoride is a natural mineral in lots of surface and spring water. Places with exceptionally high natural fluoride content led to the discovery that fluoride is vital to healthy teeth. Those exposed regularly to such high doses has badly discolored, brittle teeth, but no cavities. Evidently, our ancestors regularly drank naturally fluoridated water.

Hello Barry,

I bet people will find loopholes, lobbyist will pounce, and so on. Then there is that whole mess of enforcement. It is most likely that some cheap product gets in for months and months and nobody realizes it's been non-compliant all along. Some day the Europeans will be sick and tired of paying ever higher taxes for all these enforcement bodies.

Provocative question: Since when do politicians assume liability? They usually have to stick it out x years and then they receive a nice cushy retirement.

Regards, Joerg

At some low level (around 1 ppm), it doesn't cause the discoloration and britleness, but still greatly reduces the ability of bacteria to attack the enamel. That optimum level is what municipalities are striving for.

Me too.

Yep, got it on DVD too. Yee-HAWW!

The other example of B&W done for effect is "Young Frankenstein". I just ran a copy of "Stalag 17" for a friend who hasn't seen it. Given the age, I'm not certain if it was done in B&W on purpose, but I suspect it was.

Hello John,

If it prevents cavities but makes teeth brittle then what's the point? In the end it doesn't matter why a part of a molar chipped off, it'll cost the same to do a crown.

Regards, Joerg

That's why they're going to put it in the ice cream.

Why harden steel? If it breaks down it breaks down, who cares if it bends or breaks?

Well, engineers care, because there are different uses for iron and steel of different hardness. In the same way there is an optimum hardness for teeth, which we can achieve with the right dosis of fluor.

Take too much and the teeth will be too brittle, too little and teeth get too weak.

We have moved all over the planet, from the places we evolved in, so we need supplements to compensate for un-natural conditions for human bodies.

We have developed warm clothes, and fluor supplements, so we can live in cold environments, and in areas where fluor is not so common as it was in Africa, where humans evolved.

Apes of all kinds - including humans - love fruit. Most fruits are acidic and all of them contain sugars. Acids attack teeth directly. Sugars support the growth of bacteria that attack teeth indirectly. Yet we evolved a taste for fruit because it's a compact source of energy and contains other nutrients we require; the benefits outweigh the costs.

Eating fruit, with its damaging effects, does not preclude the creatures in question from reproducing or surviving long enough to make their offspring self-sufficient, which is really the "goal" of evolution.

It so happens that fluoride improves the performance of our dentition in much the same way that artificial doses of steroids improve muscle growth. You might as well ask "how can evolution produce a being that can't achieve its maximum possible muscle growth without an artificial dose of hormones"?

But doesn't it all depend on how much tap water a person (child) drinks a day?

robert

Not necessarily just whether or not they're educated, it's what they're being taught.

Tempe AZ is fixing to go citywide wi-fi which is seen as a Good Thing by most of its citizens (it's a college town) except the Radical Green faction which as you say is railing about more "EM pollution".

I think the Greens will lose this one. But who knows; they wised up re: nuclear power.

Mark L. Fergerson

This *has* to be in the USA ? Right ?

Graham

I've seen a documentary where dental analysis of this kind was used to help trace the place of birth / where they lived.

Graham

I'm sure they weren't. The power simply all goes into the 'grid' and it's purchased and sold as a commodity. I'm sure you knew that though.

If I had a large garden I'd consider a simple wind generator as electrical power back-up.

Over here in the UK we have numerous little canals from the days of the industrial revolution and their 'narrow boats'. These are mainly used for pleasure these days but a few ppl live in them and there are actually some 'working' narrow boats still that transport goods.

You'll often see a small wind generator on these to keep the lead acid cells that supply power topped up. Works *anywhere* - a great idea.

Graham

Ironically the WEEE ( IIRC ) addresses this.

So, we'll have to pay more for less relaible electronics so that it can't leach lead into the soil - yet actually the law will require these objects to be recycled anyway, so they won't even go anywhere near the soil !

In effect the RoHS thing is berserk. It's simply a jobs-killing directive.

Graham