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News Briefs:

New EU adds eight new substances to the REACH candidate list June 2010

New California updates Prop 65 chemical list April 2010

New JIG-101 edition 3.0 released March 2010

New IPC issues new 175X family of declaration standards February 2010

EU amends list of ELV exemptions February 2010

CPSIA issues new timeline for testing of children's products December 2009


EU expands scope of its Ecodesign Directives to energy-related products October 2009

China proposes 'the catalog' for RoHS Phase 2 October 2009

China plans expansion of PEANCS (new chemical substances) June 2009

EU recommends first list of substances requiring authorization under REACH April 2009

California approves the Green Chemistry Initiative September 2008

NGO ChemSec releases 'SIN' list (Substitute It Now) September 2008

US adopts CPSIA for lead & phthalates in children's products and for lead paint August 2008

EU Court of Justice ends decaBDE exemption for RoHS April 2008


EU releases draft of proposed RoHS changes (known as RoHS2) 2008

EU considers adding medical devices and monitoring & control instruments to RoHS

EU considers adding new prohibited substances to RoHS

RoHS2 would rely upon standards developed by European standards organizations

EU releases its study on the 'simplification' of RoHS


EU releases its study of the costs and benefits of RoHS


Eight EU Member States are cited for RoHS & WEEE transposition failures

California governor vetoes bill to expand RoHS October 2007

Northeastern US states propose Model Electronic Recycling Act 


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What are the Exemptions for RoHS?

Directive 2002/95/EC - RoHS
Decision 2009/428/EC - new exemptions
Decision 2009/443/EC - new exemptions

Exemptions to RoHS are granted to narrowly-defined applications for which the elimination of the prohibited substance is technically or scientifically impracticable or when the only available substitution produces more negative than positive benefits to the environment, health, or consumer safety. 

Exemptions are temporary in nature and subject to review at least every four years, until such time as a reliable and safe substitution is available.

Initially, ten exemptions were listed in the Annex to the RoHS directive. The Annex was amended in October 2005, April 2006, October 2006, January 2008 and June 2009 for a total of thirty-eight exemptions.

Please note the expiration dates: Exemption #28 for hexavalent chromium ended July 1, 2007. Exemption #9 for decaBDE ended July 1, 2008. Exemption #22 for lead and exemption #35 for cadmium will end December 31, 2009. Exemption #36 for mercury will end July 1, 2010.

1 Mercury in compact fluorescent lamps:
not exceeding 5 mg per lamp
2 Mercury in straight fluorescent lamps for general purposes 
not exceeding 10 mg halophosphate
not exceeding 5 mg triphosphate (normal lifetime) 
not exceeding 8 mg triphosphate (long lifetime)
3 Mercury in straight fluorescent lamps for special purposes
4 Mercury in other lamps not specifically mentioned in this Annex
5 Lead in glass
of cathode ray tubes, electronic components & fluorescent tubes.
6 Lead as an alloying element:
in steel containing up to 0.35% lead by weight
in aluminium containing up to 0.4% lead by weight
in copper containing up to 4% lead by weight
7a Lead in high melting temperature type solders 
(lead-based alloys containing 85% by weight or more lead)
7b Lead in solders 
for servers, storage and storage array systems
for telecommunications network infrastructure equipment
(switching, signaling, transmission, network management)
7c Lead in electronic ceramic parts
(piezoelectronic devices)
8 Cadmium/compounds in electrical contacts and cadmium plating
except for applications banned under Directive 91/338/EEC 
relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of
certain dangerous substances and preparations
9 Hexavalent chromium as an anti-corrosion 
of the carbon steel cooling system in absorption refrigerators
9a DecaBDE in polymeric applications
Exemption ended July 1, 2008
9b Lead in lead-bronze bearing shells and bushes
10 Light bulbs (being investigated)
11 Lead used in compliant pin connector systems
12 Lead as a coating material 
for the thermal conduction module c-ring 
13 Lead and cadmium in optical and filter glass
14 Lead in solders consisting of more than two elements 
for the connection between pins and package of microprocessors
with lead content of more than 80% and less than 85% by weight
15 Lead in solders to complete a viable electrical connection
between semiconductor die and carrier
within integrated circuit Flip Chip packages 
16 Lead in linear incandescent lamps with silicate coated tubes
17 Lead halide as radiant agent 
in High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps 
used for professional reprography 
18a Lead as an activator in the fluorescent powder 
(1% lead by weight or less)
of discharge lamps containing phosphors such as BSP
used for sun tanning lamps
18b Lead as an activator in the fluorescent powder 
(1% lead by weight or less)
of specialty lamps containing phosphors such as SMS
used for diazo-printing reprography, lithography, photochemical processes, curing processes, and insect traps
19 Lead 
with PbBiSn-Hg in specific compositions as main amalgam
with PbInSn-Hg in specific compositions as main amalgam
with PbSn-Hg as auxiliary amalgam
used in very compact Energy Saving Lamps (ESL)
20 Lead oxide in glass 
used for bonding front & rear substrates of flat fluorescent lamps
in Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)
21 Lead and cadmium in printing inks
for the application of enamels on borosilicate glass
22 Lead as impurity in RIG (rare earth iron garnet) Faraday rotators
used for fibre optic communications systems
until December 31, 2009 (exemption expires)
23 Lead in finishes of fine pitch components other than connectors
with a pitch of 0.65 mm or less 
with NiFe lead frames
or copper lead frames
24 Lead in solders for the soldering to
machined through hole discoidal or planar array
ceramic multilayer capacitors
25 Lead oxide in plasma display panels (PDP) 
or surface conduction electron emitter displays (SED)
used in structural elements 
(front & rear glass dielectric layer, bus electrode, black stripe, address electrode, barrier ribs, seal frit & frit ring) 
and in print pastes
26 Lead oxide in the glass envelope
of black light blue (BLB) lamps
27 Lead alloys as solder for transducers
used in high-powered loud speakers
(operate at acoustic power levels of 125 dB SPL & above)
28 Hexavalent chromium in corrosive preventive coatings
of unpainted metal sheetings and fasteners used for
corrosion protection and electromagnetic interference shielding
in IT and telecommunications equipment
(exemption expired July 1, 2007) 
29 Lead bound in crystal glass
Categories 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Directive 69/493/EEC
30 Cadmium alloys as electrical/mechanical solder joints
to electrical conductors located directly on the voice coil
in tranducers used in high-powered loudspeakers (
100 dB)
31 Lead in soldering materials in mercury-free flat fluorescent lamps (used for liquid crystal displays, design or industrial lighting)
32 Lead oxide in seal frit used for making window assemblies
for Argon and Krypton laser tubes
33 Lead in solders for the soldering of thin copper wires
of 100 µm diameter and less in power transformers
34 Lead in cermet-based trimmer potentiometer elements
35 Cadmium in photoresistors for optocouplers applied in
professional audio equipment until December 31, 2009
(exemption expires)
36 Mercury used as a cathode sputtering inhibitor
in DC plasma displays with a content up to 30 mg per display
until July 1, 2010 (exemption expires)
37 Lead in the plating layer of high voltage diodes
on the basis of a zinc borate glass body
38 Cadmium and cadmium oxide in thick film pastes
used on aluminum bonded beryllium oxide

Should you need assistance in implementing or managing your company's RoHS compliance, we stand ready to help you. Just email us or give us a call at 972-679-8996 for a timely and personalized response.

This summary is intended to give you an easy-to-understand overview and does not constitute legal advice. The actual standard in the original language should be reviewed and used for all business, legal, and product compliance purposes.

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Quick Tutorial:

    STANDARDS:    
What are Standards?
New What is JIG-101?
New What is IPC-1752?
What is the IEC?
What is TC 111?

What is the WTO?
What is TBT?

       USA:        What is CPSIA?
CPSIA timeline
CPSIA exemptions

What is California REACH?
What is California RoHS?
What is California WEEE?

What is Proposition 65?


      EUROPE:     

What is ELV?
      ELV exemptions

What is IMDS?

What is GADSL?

Compare IMDS vs RoHS

What is EuP?
What is ErP?
What is Ecodesign?
Implement. Measures

What is
REACH?
What are SVHCs?
      Proposed SVHCs
      New Candidate list
      Priority substances
About Pre-registration

About REACH fees
What is SIN list?

What is RoHS
?
     RoHS exemptions
What is 
WEEE?
What is Due Diligence?

What is RoHS2
?
What is New Approach?
New Legislative Framework?

What is the CE Mark?
What about Packaging
?
What about Batteries?
        
      JAPAN:      
Design for Environment
What is Japan RoHS?
What is J-Moss?

      CHINA:      
What is China REACH?
What is China RoHS?
      Phase 1
      Phase 2
What is Clean Production?

        
      KOREA:      
What is Korea RoHS?
What is EPR System?

    HYPERLINKS:   
red hyperlinks are links to official government documents (usually in .pdf)

              
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