Identification and chemical characterization of particulate matter from wave soldering processes at a printed circuit board manufacturing company

► We characterized aerosol particles in an environment where wave soldering is used. ► The constituents of the melt were recognized in the aerosols. ► Sources and creation process of PM were identified, e.g. soldering, fluxing, etching. ► Pb and other metals showed a maximum in the fine mode in the size distributions. ► Deposition probabilities of different particles along the respiratory tract were calculated.