RoHS (also known as Directive 2002/95/EC) stands for Restriction of Hazardous Substances. RoHS is a product-specific EU legislation that focuses on hazardous substances within electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and restricts the use of specific hazardous materials found in EEE.

All applicable products in the EU market after July 1, 2006, must pass RoHS compliance.

Any business that sells or distributes applicable EEE products, sub-assemblies, components, or cables directly to EU countries, or sells to resellers, distributors, or integrators that in turn sell products to EU countries, is impacted if they utilize any of the restricted materials.

What are the restricted materials mandated under RoHS?

The substances currently banned under RoHS are: lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), hexavalent chromium (CrVI), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), and four different phthalates (DEHP, BBP, BBP, DIBP).