Life-cycle impacts of lead and lead-free solder used in wave soldering of electronics

Author

Socolof, Maria Leet ; Geibig, Jack R.

Author_Institution

Environ., Trade & Agric., Abt Associates Inc., Bethesda, MD, USA

fYear

2005

fDate

16-19 May 2005

Firstpage

96

Lastpage

101

Abstract

Results from a joint US EPA and US electronics industry-funded life-cycle assessment of lead and two lead-free alternative solders are presented. Impact scores are reported in 16 different environmental categories for wave soldering applications. Bar solders evaluated include tin-lead, tin-silver-copper, and tin-copper. Tin-lead solder was determined to have higher impact scores than the lead-free solders in four categories, while having lower impacts in five. The use/application stage was the dominant contributor to most impact categories, while upstream and end-of-life processes also made significant contributions to specific impact categories, depending on the solder. Sensitivity analyses of the effect of silver production as well as landfill leachate data are also presented.

Keywords

environmental factors; hazardous materials; lead; sensitivity analysis; solders; wave soldering; bar solders; end-of-life process; environmental impact; landfill leachate data; lead-free solder; life-cycle assessment; sensitivity analyses; silver production; tin-copper solder; tin-lead solder; tin-silver-copper solder; wave soldering; Assembly; Electronics industry; Environmentally friendly manufacturing techniques; Lead; Manufacturing industries; Manufacturing processes; Production; Silver; Soldering; Tin;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electronics and the Environment, 2005. Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Symposium on

ISSN

1095-2020

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8910-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISEE.2005.1437001

Filename

1437001