ROHS Question

The Romans also served food on pewter dishes - practically solder by another name!

So, if it isn't on the internet, it isn't important? Hmm? You know that the first casualty of the internet was the truth.

As I said earlier, it is all but impossible to prove causality with humans. Something about the moral implications of doing a double blind test, of this sort, on twin children. The tests have been done on mice, and other mammals, however.

On that I agree. I had to read the stupid thing twice to figure out what his beef was. Basically, he was mad because the council didn't consider that lead may be the cause of low performance in children.

But seriously, what is your agenda?

Are you trying to prove that the poor inner city utes are dumb because it is their nature? [Thoughts like that make some white folks feel superior, and better about their own dismal lives...]

I surely hope that you aren't in that category.

Or are you trying to prove that the government/environmentalists/do-gooders are trying to pull one over on the public for some as yet undisclosed reason?

I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy (hell, more than the next guy!), but I cannot see the angle on this one. Maybe it is to keep the bridge painters employed?

RoHS, fits in the same catagory as lead paint bans; but, my reason for being against RoHS is that it is too expensive, too dangerous, and provides too little return for the cost or the danger. I do fundamentally believe that lead is worthy of respect in its handling. It is indisputable that it is a poison for humans. The question is in what quantity does it pose the most risk.

-Chuck

Spilling acid on a yellow T-shirt produces purple splashes - which later fall out!

Ok, now I know your probable motive. A lot of motor enthusiasts in the US have gone on extended rants about the removal of lead from gasoline here. I have heard stories of the trememdous damage that would be done to all of the older engines by the lack of lead. Well, in my own anecdotal experience, I haven't seen the damage yet, and I regularily run engines from the 1950's up to the current day. I plow with a 1951 Ferguson tractor. The biggest difference I have seen is I don't need to replace the spark plugs as often, and the valves seem to last forever because they don't get gummed as badly as they did with the leaded fuels. But as I said that is anecdotal to my experience, and use of these engines. A NASCAR driver will probably feel differently.

I, of course, wonder if the lead would have been taken out of the gasoline if it hadn't been necessary for proper catalytic convert operation.

-Chuck

OBTW, most of the research on on the effects of lead on children's development was done years before lead was removed from gasoline. That puts a whole lot of the information out of the reach of the internet. You might need to go to a university library to find the real data.

Pewter was still in everyday use, till cheap aluminum became available, early last century. It takes a high acid content to dissolve the lead oxide from Pewter dishes and utensils.

No you don't. I already posted (I thought in this thread) that the real reason for removing lead from petrol was to facilitate catalytic converters and that on balance I thought it was probably a good thing.

I have no motive other than a desire to see the world managed properly by competent people rather than the bunch of mostly fuckwits who are a law unto themselves we have now.

A root cause of the problem is covered here

A lack of political ideology has left politicians to cultivate a climate of fear then step into the void they encouraged as risk managers to justify their existence, 9/11 was a real gift to politicians.

and this covers some less well publicised euro political bullshit

Chuck Harris wrote in news:1f2dnUNxBsfuKwPZnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@rcn.net:

What about the same situation but with wave soldering instead of hand soldering?

Ok, you surprised me with that one. I am in 100% concurrence with you on the subject of over regulation. In the 'states, we are suffering from the same thing. It got its big start in 1986 with the tax simplification act that was purported to reduce taxes, and eliminate the need for tax accountants. What they ended up doing was known in the trade as the accountant's relief act. Basically the tax code blossomed to about 10x its original size. Virtually insuring that one could no longer complete his tax return without the aid of an accountant or specialized computer program.

Emboldened by that great success, the legislature moved on to more and trickier regulations. Most are of the type that is called "nanny state" regulations. The intense desire to protect us from anything that might be harmful, whether it is self inflicted, or inflicted by others.

I am sorry that I thought your rant was about lead and kids. I didn't realize that that was just an example of a case which was bothering you. I believe that if you would go to a real library, such as exists at most universities, you would find that there is plenty of literature that was written by real scientists that describes the harm that small amounts of lead does to young children.

As to the unrestrained legislature. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears. In the US, we have 3 boxes that are the foundation of our liberty: the soapbox, the ballot box, and the cartridge box. The first two are starting to appear lacking. I hope they will start working soon, before the 3rd box is brought into play.

-Chuck

You will care rather fast when you learn that X-ray put you to slow dath due to radiation overexposure (tin whisker grew in wrong place), or when your car brakes/fails to brake in a freakish manner--causing a nasty crash (tin whisker grew in wrong place), or yur cell phone bill is astronomical due to thousands of calls to the otherside of the world (tin whisker grew in wrong place), or the airplany you are in crashes due to.... etc etc

What, like a Swatch watch?!

My grandfather had some tins of lead paint and they were surprisingly heavy. It was very easy to distinguish a tin of lead paint from other paint just by the weight of the tin.

Chris