RoHS requirements worldwide - a brief guide

What substances are covered by RoHS regulations?
Currently most jurisdictions are limiting themselves to the EU RoHS 6 of lead, cadmium, mercury hexavalent chromium and the flame retardants PBB and PBDE. In some countries PBB and PBDE are omitted but might be covered by separate legislation. Note that there are other regulations in many countries that restrict the use of these and many other substances.

What are the allowable limits for the restricted substances?
Again, countries are generally following the EU in specifying a limit of 0.1% by weight for all the substances except cadmium where it is 0.01%. How limits are defined and how to test for them does however vary.

What products are covered by RoHS regulations?
Product scope is highly variable from region to region and even within the EU there are differences of interpretation between enforcement bodies. California’s legislation is currently restricted to display devices whereas China RoHS has a very wide scope and is notable in applying to parts as well as products.

How can I comply with these requirements?
Compliance requirements vary from region to region. For example, the EU and California uses a self declaration model, China and Japan are similar but also require marking. Eventually China will require certification for certain products.

My products are out of scope. Does this mean RoHS is irrelevant?
Sadly, no. Even the aerospace and military sectors are being affected either in terms of procurement specification or enforced obsolescence of non RoHS compliant design.

How can ERA help?
ERA has been supporting industry worldwide, UK government, RoHS enforcement bodies and the European Commission for several years on practical approaches to RoHS compliance and is internationally recognised as being leading experts in this area. ERA can help in the following ways:

All of these can be carried out on an individual or call off contract basis or through our subscriber scheme, AccessERA.

RoHS compliance assessment and analysis
It is impossible to analyse every homogeneous material in all but the simplest electrical products as this would be prohibitively expensive and is also not necessary and so a simple strategy is required to assess components, materials and products based on risk that can be carried out at minimum cost. ERA utilizes this approach to assess components, sub-assemblies and products.
Click here for more details.

Troubleshooting product reliability
ERA assesses “lead-free” product quality and can assess reliability (e.g. examination of solder joints, PCBs and components). ERA can also recommend strategies for avoiding problems such as tin whiskers and thermal fatigue and can also give advice on product reliability testing procedures. If failures occur ERA can determines the cause of failures and will recommend corrective action.
Click here for more details.

Developing RoHS compliant designs and processes
There is no drop-in replacement for tin/lead solder; each of the alternative solders is different and the implications need to be understood to avoid problems. The use of lead-free solders has implications for component and PCB reliability that also need to be understood if problems are to be avoided. ERA can help you assess product quality, and the suitability and reliability of other alternative materials (e.g. to hexavalent chromium for example) and components.

ERA’s credentials
ERA’s reliability and failure analysis group (RFA) assisted the UK Department of Trade and Industry and European Commission develop a practicable approach to demonstrating RoHS compliance. Much of this flowed through to the UK RoHS guidance and the informal RoHS enforcement guidance on which ERA advised. ERA carried out the first review of RoHS exemptions for the EC and recently completed a study for the EC on the possible inclusion of medical and monitoring and control equipment in the scope of RoHS. ERA advises and lectures widely throughout the world on ROHS and is recognised as an authority on
RoHS issues globally.