MOTM

Does anyone know exactly what chemical(s) is/are being released in the smoke
when you fry a chip/transistor? I know that smell instantly, but have no
idea what it actually is or if it's harmful or not. We had the heating
controller at the place I work blow up today and as we crept through the
haze of smoke to see if there was any open flames (next to a tank of heating
oil... smart) I suddenly thought "I wonder if this crap is going to kill me,
I was however wearing at least an organic respirator, so I won't die
tomorrow, but that smell sure sticks to your clothes... if anyone knows what
exactly that smoke is made of, it'd be nice to know (and helpful to tell the
doctors if I get violently ill in the next few hours... you can email
directly to me at Nate@..., thanks in advance. -Nate

I wouldn't worry about it too much.  Although I'm not sure what you 
may have been exposed to, it was probably plastic based and thus 
organic in nature.  
I used to repair equipment for a living and believe me I know very 
well the fragrance of melted resistors, exploded capacitors, blown 
chips and my personal favorite transformers that got so hot the 
liquified insulation oozed out of them.
It used to just make my day when I'd get an amplifier to fix that 
included a fuse wrapped in aluminum (aluminium for you Brits) foil.
Anyway I didn't use a respirator (not even the time a Fender amp 
burst into flame when I plugged it in.)  
I'm still here, and seem to have suffered no ill effects (this was 
over 25 years ago.)
I also used to inhale lots of solder fumes which included lead I'm 
sure as well as lots of nice organics.
My IQ hasn't dropped either, at least I doesn't tink sew.
There is usually a threshold you have to get past to suffer any 
damage from chemical exposure and there are some who think that 
slight exposure to potentially harmful substances may be 
beneficial!  
(Yes, seriously.  There was an artical on this in Discover Magazine 
a few issues back.)
I also used to work for the power company back before anyone knew 
about PCBs.  I'm sure Larry could tell us stories about that stuff.
Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it.  Just showering and running your 
clothes through the wash should get rid of the smell, which I agree 
is pretty foul.