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RoHS is a directive within the European Union that is of great importance to manufacturers and suppliers of equipment. The letters stand for Restriction of Hazardous Substances, and its aim is to reduce the hazardous substances that are encountered in everyday life and also enter the ecosystem. The application of the RoHS, Restriction of Hazardous Substances, and directive is not only applicable to equipment manufactured within the EU, it also applies to items imported. In addition to this, many other countries outside the EU have similar legislation.
Although the major focus of the RoHS regulations have been on the reduction of lead within products to provide RoHS compliance, there is a total of six substances whose use is restricted namely Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Mercury, PBB and PBDE. PBB and PBDE are flame retardants that are used in some plastics. The scope of the directive applies to equipment that is defined in the WEEE directive. One of the main exemptions from the RoHS directive is that batteries are not included despite the high levels of substances that would normally come under RoHS. Another exemption is that the ROHS Directive does not apply to fixed industrial plant and tools. Here compliance is the responsibility of the company that markets the product. With increasing levels of electronic equipment being produced, and some time later discarded, it has been found the levels of hazardous substances in the environment has been rising. One of the major areas of the RoHS has been to reduce the level of lead, and sometimes RoHS is mistakenly thought of as the "lead free legislation."
Although the major focus of the RoHS regulations have been on the reduction of lead within products to provide RoHS compliance, there is a total of six substances whose use is restricted namely Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Mercury, PBB and PBDE. PBB and PBDE are flame retardants that are used in some plastics. The scope of the directive applies to equipment that is defined in the WEEE directive. One of the main exemptions from the RoHS directive is that batteries are not included despite the high levels of substances that would normally come under RoHS. Another exemption is that the ROHS Directive does not apply to fixed industrial plant and tools. Here compliance is the responsibility of the company that markets the product. With increasing levels of electronic equipment being produced, and some time later discarded, it has been found the levels of hazardous substances in the environment has been rising. One of the major areas of the RoHS has been to reduce the level of lead, and sometimes RoHS is mistakenly thought of as the "lead free legislation."