Lead-free soldering

In order to prevent heavy metals from being released into the environment, it’s best to simply avoid the use of mercury, cadmium and lead. However, what happens to the soldering of electronic components if lead is prohibited?The harmful environmental effects of heavy metals have been known for a long time, but only recently have any effective and publicly visible measures been taken against them. Mercury-free batteries, rechargeable batteries without cadmium and lead-free petrol are the most well known examples. There have also been changes in the composition of solder, which normally is an alloy of lead and tin. For example, the use of solders containing lead has been prohibited for food containers for quite a while already, and lead-free solders must now be used for domestic water lines as well.