[greenyes] Lead-free solder and electronics lifecycle

["Doug Koplow" <koplow@no.address>]

I was speaking with a product engineer yesterday who said that the current lead-free substitutes for solder do not perform very well.  He said that meeting the EU guidelines to get the lead out will greatly shorten the service life for many consumer durables that contain circuit boards -- obviously not a desirable environmental outcome.

Does anybody on the list know about this issue?  Are there technologies close to commercialization that are both lead-free and very long-lasting?

_______________________________
Doug Koplow
Earth Track, Inc.
2067 Massachusetts Avenue - 4th Floor
Cambridge, MA  02140
www.earthtrack.net
Tel:  617/661-4700
Fax: 617/354-0463

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