COST 531 - Lead-Free Solder Materials

Lead and lead containing chemicals are among the top chemicals posing a great threat to human life and environment. When lead accumulates in the body it can produce various adverse health effects; it leads to disorders in the nervous and reproductive system, delays in neurological and physical development, it causes cognitive and behavioral changes and reduces the production of hemoglobin resulting in anemia and hypertension. Currently, lead poisoning is assumed to have occurred if the level of lead in the blood exceeds 500 g/ml but recent studies have found that a level of lead well below the official threshold could be hazardous to a child's neurological and physical development.
     The main objective of this Action is to increase the basic knowledge on possible alloy systems that can be used as lead-free solder materials and to provide a scientific basis for a decision which of these materials to use for different soldering purposes in order to replace the currently used lead-containing solders in the future.
     In addition to and complementing this main objective, this COST Action will also contribute in accomplishing the following tasks.
- Establishment of a database of knowledge on possible lead-free solder materials and soldering processes
- Providing the expertise for selecting particular materials for specific purposes.

CONTACT PERSON:

RNDr. Aleš Kroupa, CSc.
e-mail: kroupa@ipm.cz
Institute of Physics of Materials, of the ASCR, Brno
URL: http://www.ipm.cz/group/people.php?group=21&id=102
International pages of the project: http://www.univie.ac.at/cost531/