nearly every day there is more evidence
documenting the health hazards
associated with the electronics industry
industry leaders have become
increasingly aware of the need to
protect the health and safety of their
workers from these known health hazards
a particular concern for electronics
workers is the inhalation of flux fumes
during the soldering process even with
today's increase in manufacturing
automation electronics assembly and
repair operations still require a
significant amount of hand soldering and
an associated flux fume exposure most
sutter's today contain flux to improve
solder flow remove oxides and enhance
overall soldering performance
conventional flux is a translucent amber
colored rosin obtained from pine trees
through a distillation process which
dates back to ancient times when flux is
heated a variety of harmful gases are
generated such as formaldehyde toluene
isopropyl and butyl alcohols and
hydrochloric acid in addition to the
gaseous components of heated flux
significant concentrations of airborne
particulates are created ranging in size
from point zero one micron to 1 micron
flux fumes parallel the particle
inhalation range of tobacco smoke a well
known lung pollutant and carcinogen
international organizations which
regulate exposure standards for workers
safety and health classify particles
into three categories of risk the
inhalable fraction includes particles
which are 10 microns or larger in
diameter these particles are normally
captured in the nose and mouth pollens
are a common inhalable sized particulate
the thoracic fraction includes particles
less than 10 microns but greater than
3.5 microns in die
particles in this range are capable of
being deposited within the lung Airways
coal dust and cement dust are examples
of thoracic sized particulates the
respirable fraction includes particles
less than 3.5 microns in diameter these
particles are capable of being deposited
in the gas exchange region of the lungs
flux fumes are included in this category
a number of health hazards have been
associated with exposure to flux fumes
flux fumes are known to cause headaches
and dizziness chronic eye irritation
contact dermatitis chronic bronchitis
and occupational asthma allergic
sensitization of workers is also
prevalent in activities associated with
solder fume in halation flux fume
sensitization and associated symptoms
can develop over a period of time
averaging four years of exposure before
chronic symptoms occur with flux fume
sensitization workers progressively
experience wheezing and breathlessness
earlier in their work shift eye and nose
irritation are quite common since
hydrochloric acid a potent mucosal
irritant is produced when flux is heated
these symptoms can continue for many
hours after the employees workday is
finished material safety data sheets
known as MSDS is published by flux
manufacturers state that inhalation of
flux fumes will irritate the nose throat
and respiratory organs these data sheets
emphasize that prolonged or repeated
exposure to flux fumes may result in
sensitization leading to occupational
asthma studies performed on workers in
the electronics industry indicate that
at least 20% of solder ease even those
working in the vicinity of soldering
operations may exhibit the clinical
symptoms of occupational asthma
characterized by coughing shortness of
breath wheezing and
chest pain published reports and
occupational health journals indicate
that the adverse health effects from
flux fumes result in increased
absenteeism
studies show that flux fumes are the
chief cause of absenteeism and illness
amongst arteries workers can also
experience more frequent healthcare
usage employee turnover exposure to flux
fumes is the major cause of turnover for
employees performing soldering
operations resulting in additional
recruitment and Retraining costs by the
industry for replacement workers health
insurance costs rising health insurance
premiums represent a significant expense
for employers as well as for employees
workers compensation claims in the
United States alone 90% of all
occupational related respiratory disease
claims are litigated resulting in
increased compensation costs to business
legal liability exposure to flux fumes
can exceed permissible limits set by
international standards for occupational
safety and health this can result in
legal action including employer fines
and even criminal prosecution with the
physical health of the worker and the
financial health of Industry at risk a
new business strategy must be developed
to remain successful and profitable into
the 21st century industry must make a
shift toward controlling costs through
profit management a significant way to
contain the costs associated with
occupational hazards is to reduce the
employees exposure to hazardous
substances one option involves
administrative controls which include
job rotation employee transfers and
reducing time on the job this option may
reduce an employee's exposure but it may
also significantly impair productivity
industry leaders have found more
feasible and cost effective options to
reduce employee exposure one solution
could be to change the source of the
hazard by substituting fluxes
however alternative fluxes such as no
clean and water-soluble types can
sometimes adversely affect process
control and production equipment and may
be too costly to implement many
alternative fluxes create fumes that are
potentially more harmful than
conventional flux fumes another
alternative is the use of personal
protective equipment such as respirators
to keep worker exposures within
permissible limits the main drawback
though is that worker acceptance -
wearing bulky respirators can be
extremely low the preferred solution is
path interception this method involves
intercepting the path between the source
of the airborne pollutants and the
worker International occupational safety
and health organizations and solder flux
manufacturers recommend local exhaust
ventilation systems for soldering
operations properly maintained local
ventilation systems effectively
intercept the hazardous fumes from the
workers breathing zone with maximum
effectiveness local exhaust ventilation
has several distinct advantages flux
fumes are pulled away from the workers
breathing zone secondary flux fumes
affecting those nearby the source are
also eliminated contamination from gases
and particulates on sensitive electronic
components is avoided and cleaned air
can be returned back into the working
environment with significant heating and
air conditioning cost savings localized
exhaust ventilation is known as fume
extraction effective fume extraction
systems contain three primary components
the collection device captures the flux
fumes the vacuum pump pulls the air
through the collection device into the
central filtration unit the central
filtration unit is the heart of the fume
extraction system which removes the
contaminants contained in flux fumes and
allows cleaned air to be returned back
into the workplace removal of gaseous
and particulate components in flux fume
requires an effective multistage central
filtration
system which includes a pre-filter for
removing coarse particles a
high-efficiency particulate air filter
or HEPA filter for removing microscopic
particulates and a composite blend gas
filter for capturing the gases contained
in flux fumes a composite blend of an
absorptive material and a chemist Optive
material is preferred for effective
performance the surface area of the HEPA
filter is also an important
consideration hepa filters with large
surface area require less frequent
changes and offer lower resistance to
air movement through the system all
quality hepa filters will have a
certificate of efficiency for a short
performance filter efficiencies of
99.97% are available individual filter
cartridges can be easily replaced to
provide maximum performance a heavy-duty
brushless vacuum pump is required vacuum
pumps rated for 20,000 or more hours of
continuous use are preferred to ensure
years of reliable maintenance free
service a broad range of collection
devices are available to meet specific
applications for flux fume removal armed
systems which transfer large volumes of
air away from the workers breathing zone
offer maximum versatility using a wide
variety of nozzles hoods canopies and
suction tubes to suit the individuals
needs central filtration units come in
various sizes and can accommodate
multiple workstations standard and
static safe conductive arms are
available in bench mounted or
wall-mounted versions attachment arms
for microscopes provide much needed
protection since the worker is
particularly close to the soldering
activity fume extraction plenums can be
easily positioned on the bench top for
manual operations which produce large
amounts of fumes such as solder pots
portable fume cabin
are ideal for effectively capturing
fumes without interfering with the
production process for some manual
soldering applications a small suction
tube can be installed on the soldering
iron to immediately remove flux roams
right at the irons tip without adversely
affecting tip temperature central
filtration units come in various sizes
and can accommodate multiple handpieces
suction tubes are attached with a
specially designed mounting bracket
screw on adapters or simply clip to the
soldering iron heater element
installation of fume extraction systems
is quick and simple
using ducting which does not require any
glue tape or other fasteners the system
can be easily dismantled and reassembled
as the production floor layout changes
fume extraction offers a cleaner
healthier work environment quick and
easy installation a wide variety of
system designs and a more profitable
business this presentation has been
brought to you as a public service by
pace incorporated