ROHS Certification

The ROHS Directive stands for “the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment“. It is developed by the European Union. This Directive bans the placing on the EU market of new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB), and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants. Manufacturers need to understand the requirements of the ROHS Directive to ensure that their products, and their components, comply.

To certify to the above compliances, these substances must not be intentionally added to the product AND cannot exceed the following maximum allowable levels as a trace substance. Restriction of Hazardous Substances (ROHS) certification will smooth the product's path to market anywhere in the world. The European Directive on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (ROHS) holds electrical and electronic equipment companies directly responsible for the chemical compliance of their products.

ROHS is there for your safety, plain and simple. While you may believe that there is no immediate threat from substances such as lead and beryllium oxide, the issue with such chemicals is their long term exposure. Simply washing your hands does not remove the negative effects of these substances because exposure is not limited to consumption. Exposure to a chemical is when your body is in physical contact with said chemical, which includes holding it with bare hands.

ROHS restricted substances have been used in a broad array of consumer electronics products. Examples of leaded components include: paints and pigments, PVC (vinyl) cables as a stabilizer (e.g., power cords, USB cables), solders, printed circuit board finishes, leads, internal and external interconnects, glass in television and photographic products (e.g., CRT television screens and camera lenses), metal parts, lamps, and bulbs, batteries.

The customer isn't the only one affected by non-ROHS parts. For the part to arrive at their house, it has to be shipped and packaged, which is mostly done by hand. The act of packaging puts employees at risk as they are exposed to harmful substances. For those employees to package the part, that part had to be manufactured, which again would expose the workers who handle the part during manufacturing. But the life of a non-ROHS part does not end at the final product. The purpose of this Directive is to approximate the laws of the Member States on the restrictions of the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment and to contribute to the protection of human health and the environmentally sound recovery and disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment.

The increase of communication across the supply chain serves as a platform for the implementation of REACH and other initiatives. Tighter process control, overall reduced number of defects, and increased production efficiency (contradicts information appearing elsewhere in the report). Competitive advantage for EU manufacturers in markets where RoHS legislation is pending or contemplated.