>So if you're only occasionally soldering up a circuit board, you stay well ventilated, and you keep the solder temperature below 450°C (my soldering iron is us

>So if you're only occasionally soldering up a circuit board, you stay well ventilated, and you keep the solder temperature below 450°C (my soldering iron is usually set around 280°C - 300°C) then the risk seems pretty negligible. I think the danger is in touching the lead directly; it's a soft metal and comes off on your hands to a certain extent, and my understanding is that some of the dross can end up as lead dust. According to the NIOSH, just washing with soap is often not effective for removing lead from your hands, https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lead/safe.html https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lead/safe.html >I should still give unleaded solder another shot, though - maybe it's improved since last time I tried it. I'm starting to look into different formulations; I'd start with the SAC305 formulation. It's like 3.5% silver and slightly more expensive, but still cheap. and widely available. Not that I'm any good at soldering myself.