About mercury, consider that it's still widely used in dental amalgam.
FDA article on amalgam: http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedur...
> A lot more brave than I am, even if it is lead free.
Nobody who knows what they are doing works with lead-free solder for manual rework or repair. It needs a higher temperature, flows poorly, and produces an ugly matte surface, upon cooling, that looks like a cold solder joint even when the joint is actually good.
I can almost guarantee you that Woz is using nothing but 60/40 Sn/Pb in that shot. :)
"In Minamata, Japan, pregnant women who consumed the contaminated fish manifested mild or no symptoms but gave birth to infants with severe developmental disabilities, including cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and seizures."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata,_Kumamoto
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/113/Supplement...
Count me among the ones who played. My grandfather worked for AC Gilbert, who's company originally produced The Erector Set. It produced many toys, and we had one of these lead casting kits: http://www.girdersandgears.com/kaster.html
I never could figure out one of the molds, which is fortunate because it produced a whistle. In lead. That you stick in your mouth. Maybe I couldn't figure out how to assemble it because I was already too stupid from the lead poisoning due to the fumes while pouring the other molds.
But I have to say: Working with a crucible of molten lead was pretty fun as a kid.
Heck, I bet I did it in high school electronics class.
The fumes you're seeing and smelling are from the rosin flux being heated past its smoke point. (Though good for you, not lead).
I lost the fan years ago, and now just hold my breath when I solder.
I do this sometimes, but only when solder is in a plastic container, which allows me to hold the container in my mouth, without touching the solder.
There's a huge difference between skin exposure and ingestion.
At some point being overly cautions crosses the border into pseudo science.
Sure, but there isn't much harm in that in this particular example. What is there to be gained by holding solder metal in the mouth?
Unless you have a third arm or a monkey tail, holding the solder in your mouth is about your only option when the component is in one hand and the iron is in the other.
Wiggling the joint while it's setting is sub-optimal.
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=helping+hands+elect...
You can pick up one of these over-the-counter in one of several electronics shops in Vancouver for as little as eight dollars Canadian.