Electrostatic discharge, or ESD, is perhaps the biggest danger to integrated circuits, and electronics companies spend millions of dollars each year on products to reduce static buildup and discharge and to test how susceptible their ICs are to ESD. Simliarly, when building a kit, or working on electronics that are ESD-sensitive, it’s a good idea to use a conductive mat on your work surface and a wrist strap connected to earth ground. I use both in my shack.
Texas Instruments has a number of videos on their website that will give you a better idea why this is a good idea. They’re mostly designed to sell you their ESD protection devices, but unless you’re designing electronic systems, you can mostly ignore the sales pitch.
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