I'm a fan of leaded solder. The lead risk can be mitigated by ensuring that after you handle the solder, you don't touch any mucous membranes, cuts, eyes, or anything you're going to put in your mouth until you've thoroughly washed your hands (or removed your gloves, if you're a glove person).
Leaded solder's real downside is environmental: odds are, what you've made will eventually end up in a landfill, where the lead will leach out and potentially contaminate the local environment.
[Now we're trying to sell "soldering hoods" on HN?!]
Use common sense:
- Solder in an area with constant air flow,
- Keep some space around your work so the fumes move away,
- Don't snort solder OR flux!8-))
Solder likes to spit tiny balls everywhere. When cleaning the tip you can even wind up with a fairly fine dust. I do not want lead dust around.
I use about 1/2 roll of solder per decade, but it's the good shit, rosin core Kester 60/40. I've still got a few Radio Shack Iron coated Copper tips for my Craftsman 42 watt iron. For me, at 61, it's likely a lifetime supply.
For personal use, always wash your hands after handling it, and try not to breath the rosin flux fumes, which are the real danger, IMHO.
For new designs, or anything mass produced, use the lead-free stuff, for Mother Earth and the rest of us. You really don't want new places like the East Chicago USS Lead Superfund site[1], 10 miles NE of me, to be created. The topsoil there was 0.1% lead! In doing family genealogy, I found that one of my dad's uncles likely worked there as a "Lead Burner", whatever that is.