Lead environmental issues and new solder alloys in electro-electronics equipment

The use of Surface Mounted Technology (SMT) and the miniaturization of the electronics equipment are demanding new lead-free materials in the soldering process, due to its high toxicity to human being and environmental concerns. Global competitiveness has been driving industries to technological development as challenges to the manufactures and there is an effort to use alternative materials for the soldering electronic components to find an environment-friendly process. This paper presents a literature review involving soldering processes and describes the lead toxicity from related residue. The main solder alloy that is nowadays used to substitute tin-lead and European Directives are also presented.