As Governments Ban Lead, Tech Companies Get Nervous

Without metal, gadgets prone to splintering
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 10, 2007 11:44 AM CDT
As Governments Ban Lead, Tech Companies Get Nervous
Henning Leidecker, a chief parts engineer with NASA Goddard, looks at an electrical relay that has grown tin whiskers in Greenbelt, MD on Friday, Sept. 28, 2007. Tin Whiskers are tiny tin strands that sprout without warning from tin finish or solder, short-circuiting electronics. By some estimates,...   (Associated Press)

Mattel's toy recall fiasco has highlighted the dangers of lead poisoning, and the European Union and other governments have passed laws banning the use of lead in fields that still use it, including electronics. But that has the tech industry worried: for decades, lead has been the only stopgap preventing complex electronics from developing "tin whiskers," splinters that bring gadgets to a halt.

Whiskers that develop on motherboards, for example, can break off and interfere with or ruin sensitive instruments like pacemakers, satellites, and even a space shuttle. But lawmakers want hazardous materials, including lead, out of dumps and incinerators. One IBM executive regretted the new laws but said, "It's whistling in the wind if you think we're turning this back." (More lead poisoning stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X