Leaded is easier to solder with, lead-free is less bad for you, but inhaling any fumes from burning stuff isn’t good for you, so use an extractor/filter no matter what.

• JohnFen

  12/03/2025

  Good advice, although I feel it's important to point out that the fumes from leaded solder don't actually contain lead. They're the same as with lead-free solder: they come from the flux.

  I'm a fan of leaded solder. The lead risk can be mitigated by ensuring that after you handle the solder, you don't touch any mucous membranes, cuts, eyes, or anything you're going to put in your mouth until you've thoroughly washed your hands (or removed your gloves, if you're a glove person).

  Leaded solder's real downside is environmental: odds are, what you've made will eventually end up in a landfill, where the lead will leach out and potentially contaminate the local environment.

• yshklarov

  12/03/2025

  We have no evidence that the lead in solder makes its way into the body of the person doing the soldering (and we've been at this for quite some time!). The concerns about lead in solder are due to the environmental hazards of electronics waste, and the hazards associated with mining and smelting lead.

• DenisDolya

  12/03/2025

  So it doesn't matter which one to use, the main thing is to have a good hood?

  • giardini

    12/03/2025

    No, the main thing is to have a good head!

    [Now we're trying to sell "soldering hoods" on HN?!]

    Use common sense:

    - Solder in an area with constant air flow,

    - Keep some space around your work so the fumes move away,

    - Don't snort solder OR flux!8-))

  • the__alchemist

    12/03/2025

    Use a good hood/ventilatation system, and lead free solder.

The choice of flux used is probably more important. Aggressive fluxes are easier to solder with, but leave behind a acid residue which can be problematic for electronic circuits. Fluxes preferred for electronic applications are the least acid, but not as easy to to get the liquid solder to bond.

Personally, I learned on lead-free solder and the rosin core is almost always enough flux for me aside from rework. Always use an extractor/filter either way.

I only use lead free, and even then, I use a HEPA filter because of the flux.

Solder likes to spit tiny balls everywhere. When cleaning the tip you can even wind up with a fairly fine dust. I do not want lead dust around.

My friend Jim, who's been fixing stuff since the 1950s won't ever give up leaded solder. It's the same type as in all the stuff he's repairing. Compared to commercial production, it's a drop in the bucket, and it's already in his shop, so it should get used anyway.

I use about 1/2 roll of solder per decade, but it's the good shit, rosin core Kester 60/40. I've still got a few Radio Shack Iron coated Copper tips for my Craftsman 42 watt iron. For me, at 61, it's likely a lifetime supply.

For personal use, always wash your hands after handling it, and try not to breath the rosin flux fumes, which are the real danger, IMHO.

For new designs, or anything mass produced, use the lead-free stuff, for Mother Earth and the rest of us. You really don't want new places like the East Chicago USS Lead Superfund site[1], 10 miles NE of me, to be created. The topsoil there was 0.1% lead! In doing family genealogy, I found that one of my dad's uncles likely worked there as a "Lead Burner", whatever that is.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lead_Superfund_Site

Lead-free. Lead isn't worth it, especially if you're doing this at home.