Soldering fumes – introduction, health risks and mitigation
Businesses that are associated with the fabrication, maintenance, and repairs of electronic goods cannot sustain themselves without the intricate process of soldering.
Now, the workplaces of such businesses are often saturated with soldering fumes which is a result of burned rosin-based flux materials. These rosin-based flux materials are primarily used by a soldering technician to make electronic connections on a PCB or any other form of electronic circuit boards.
Prolonged exposure to the fumes generated from soldering operations can have detrimental effects on the health of a soldering technician.
Back in the day, businesses that heavily relied on soldering technicians hardly did anything to improve the working conditions for their workforce. But that is not the case anymore.
With stringent labor laws, workplace safety norms and regulations formulated by apex bodies like OSHA, businesses started using solutions like a soldering fume extraction system in their workplaces.
Health risks
Prolonged exposure to soldering fumes can result in the soldering technician to come down with the following illnesses:
● Occupational asthma – This is the result of excessive or direct inhalation of flux gases. Symptoms may or may not consist of difficulty breathing, dry cough, pain in the chest, etc.
● Allergic hypersensitivity – This can manifest just after a few months a soldering technician joins a company with a poorly-ventilated workplace. Symptoms can bein the form of labored breathing and dry cough.
● Other illnesses that may or may not show their signs in a soldering technician working in a poorly ventilated workplace are bronchitis – that doesn’t seem togo away, prolonged headaches that no form of aspirin can help with, and frequent bouts of dizziness.
Mitigation
Mitigating the effects of soldering fumes is essential sinceit helps a business in the following ways:
● It would help a business to keep its workforce from inhaling the fumes created asan after-effect of soldering electronic components on PCBs. Using solutions from renowned companies like SOVPLYM, like its efficient range of portable fume extractor, helps a lot! Solutions like this allow complete removal of soldering fumes from the workplace, thus helping a business to keep downtimes at bay since its workforce won't fall ill often!
● Usingfume extraction solutions offered by SOVPLYM can also allow a company to ensure that its workplace is compliant with the norms set by local as well as federal bodies. SOVPLYM’s range of fume extraction solutions is manufactured to meet regulations set by apex bodies such as OSHA, NIOSH, C.O.S.H.H, and many more.
● SOVPLYM’srange of soldering fume extraction systems is powerful and uses the latest fume extraction technology. Its products come loaded with on-board control units that increase the suction power of a fume extractor on the fly. By choosing SOVPLYM’s soldering fume extraction solutions, a business will be able to keep its workplace and internal ambiance well-ventilated.
