Measuring air levels of colophony
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Can levels of colophony from solder fume be measured in the air?
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Yes. The HSE's website (www.hse.gov.uk) has some information on asthma from solder fume and produces guidance on how to carry out air level measurements. The sampling method measures resin acids and is descibed in MDHS83 Resin acids in rosin (colophony) solder flux fume HSE books.
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The "old" method of measuring soldering fume from heated colophony was to measure its aldehyde content. The aldehyde method did not correlate with colophony exposure, and was often interpreted as showing that the problem with colophony fumes were due to aldehydes (or even formaldehyde as formaldehyde was used to convert the aldehyde groups into mg). Background levels from particle board were often higher than those generated from soldering fume. The method is now discredited. There is still debate as to whether asthma is caused by the resin acids themselves, breakdown products of them, or even metabolites produced intracellularly. Unheated colophony can cause asthma, implying that pyrolysis is not obligatory. The "new" method measures the resin acids, and although difficult produces results which relate to exposure and risk.
Occupational asthma due to unheated colophony.
P.S.Burge, A.Wieland, A.S.Robertson, D.Weir.
Brit.J.Industr.Med 43:559-560
Colophony hypersensitivity revisited
P.S.Burge
Clin Exp Allergy 30:158-159
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