RoHS FAQs
What is RoHS?Other legislation similar to RoHS
What is the WEEE Directive?
What are the 6 banned substances?
Manufactures who will be impacted by RoHS
How is Jameco responding to RoHS?
How to find RoHS compliant products available at Jameco?
As a Jameco customer what do you need to know?
Application exemptions
Links to additional resource information on RoHS and WEEE
What is RoHS? (top)
RoHS (we pronounce it ROW HAWS) is "the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment". This directive was adopted in February 2003 by the European Union and became effective in July 2006 and effectively bans any new electrical or electronic equipment containing more than the agreed upon levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants.
Manufacturers are responsible for meeting the requirements of the RoHS Directive for products and components bound for the European market and Jameco makes it easy to identify which products qualify for the RoHS standard.
The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) 2002/95/EC was adopted by the European Union, but is not a law; it is simply a directive.
For more information and recent updates, please visit the European Commission:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/rohs_eee/
Other Legislation Similar to RoHS: (top)
China
There is legislation taking effect in China (often referred to as “China RoHS”) that has similar restrictions to the European RoHS directive.
For more information please visit the China RoHS Solutions website:
http://www.chinarohs.com/
Japan
Japan does not currently have any direct legislation dealing with the RoHS substances, but its recycling laws have spurred Japanese manufacturers to move to a lead-free process. These companies have also been proactive in phasing out other harmful materials which will, in effect make their products RoHS compliant.
California
California adopted similar legislation to the EU RoHS directive which took effect on January 1, 2007. The California law uses the EU RoHS directive as its guide.
Note: These as well as other legislations are broadening the scope of the RoHS directive and appear to be making it a world wide compliance issue.
What Is The WEEE Directive? (top)
WEEE is the European Community directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment which sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for all types of electrical goods.
For more information and recent updates, please visit the European Commission:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee/index_en.htm
What Are The 6 Banned Substances? (top)
- Lead
- Cadmium
- Mercury
- Hexavalent Chromium (Chromium VI)
- Polybrominated biphenyl (PBB)
- Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE)
Amounts:
The maximum concentrations are 0.1% (except for Cadmium which is limited to 0.02%) by weight of homogenous material. This means that the limits do not apply to the weight of the finished product, or even to a component, but to any single substance that could (theoretically) be separated mechanically.
Examples: the sheath on a cable or the tin-electroplating coatings on a component lead.
Manufacturers Who Will Be Impacted By RoHS: (top)
Manufacturers will need to understand the requirements of the RoHS Directive to ensure that their products and their components, comply.
The following definitions apply to producers of electrical and electronic equipment under the RoHS Directive:
- Manufacturer and sells electrical and electronic equipment under his own brand.
- Resells under his own brand equipment produced by other suppliers.
- Imports or exports electrical and electronic equipment on a professional basis into a Member State.
How Is Jameco Responding to RoHS" (top)
RoHS compliant products are available and clearly labeled on Jameco’s website and in its catalogs!
How to Find RoHS Compliant Products Available at Jameco? (top)
RoHS compliant products are denoted by part number for your convenience.
Via The Web: (top)
To find RoHS compliant products on Jameco.com, follow these easy steps:
1. Search for the product of interest through the multiple access points on the Jameco.com site as you normally do.
2. Jameco's parametric search allows you to easily limit your search to RoHS compliant products.
3. Of course if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-831-4242 and we would be more than happy to help answer any questions related to the RoHS standard.
As a Jameco Customer What Do You Need to Know? (top)
At this time, RoHS compliant products are specifically targeted to meet the needs of our customers who are selling products to the European market.
For our customers who are not selling products to the European market, the non-RoHS compliant products are still available.
Application Exemptions: (top)
Below is a summary of the RoHS application exemptions. For more detailed information and recent updates, please visit the European Commission:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/rohs_eee/
- Large-scale stationary industrial tools. Machines or systems, consisting of a combination of equipment, systems, finished products and/or components each of which is designed to be used in industry only, permanently fixed and installed by professionals at a given place in an industrial machinery or in an industrial to perform a specific task.
- Spare parts for the repair, or the reuse, of electrical and electronic equipment put on the market before July 1, 2006 with the purpose of extending its life by updating its functionalities or upgrading its capacity.
- Military equipment like arms, munitions, war material
Additional applications of lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium, which are exempted from the RoHS Directive requirements include:
- Mercury in compact fluorescent lamps not exceeding 5 mg per lamp.
- Mercury in straight fluorescent lamps for general purposes not exceeding:
- halophosphate 10 mg
- triphosphate with normal lifetime 5 mg
- triphosphate with long lifetime 8 mg
- Mercury in straight fluorescent lamps for special purposes.
- Mercury in other lamps not specifically mentioned in this list.
- Lead in glass of cathode ray tubes, electronic components and fluorescent tubes.
- Lead as an alloying element in steel containing up to 0.35% lead by weight, aluminium containing up to 0.4% lead by weight and as a copper alloy containing up to 4% lead by weight.
- Lead in high melting temperature type solders (i.e. tin-lead solder alloys containing more than 85% lead).
- Lead in solders for servers, storage and storage array systems (exemption granted until 2010).
- Lead in solders for network infrastructure equipment for switching, signalling, and transmission as well as network management for telecommunication.
- Lead in electronic ceramic parts (e.g. piezoelectronic devices).
- Cadmium plating except for applications banned under Directive 91/338/EEC (1) amending Directive 76/769/EEC (2) relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations.
- Hexavalent chromium as an anti-corrosion of the carbon steel cooling system in absorption refrigerators.
Links to Additional Resource Information on RoHS and WEEE: (top)
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/rohs_eee/
http://www.rohs.gov.uk