The Directive 2002/95/CE issued by the European Parliament and Council on January 27, 2003 becomes effective as of July 1, 2006. The RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive is often referred to as the “lead-free initiative”, but in reality lead is just one of six hazardous substances banned.

This directive imposes significant restrictions on the use of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, cadmium, and flame retardant materials. These materials are of the PBB (polybrominated diphenyl) and PBDE (polybrominated diphenyl ether) types.

IDEC in accordance with our ISO14001 certification, has taken steps to ensure our compliance before the effective date. IDEC has created a large cross-functional RoHS team whose sole responsibility is to analyze the present product line and take the necessary actions to eliminate the above materials to bring our products into compliance.

The actions include

Due to the substitution of banned substances with new materials certain IDEC specifications (such as contact ratings) of existing products may change. One important thing to remember in the RoHS directive compliance is the fact that there is no third party agency (such as UL or VDE) presently verifying manufacturers compliance. Manufacturers will issue compliance certificates based upon their own internal investigations.

Therefore, an end-user or OEM should be very hesitant when choosing a supplier of products who states RoHS compliance. We would suggest that other factors such as the reputation of the company and additional third party certifications (such as ISO9000, ISO14000) be taken into consideration.

For specific product compliance status, contact us at support@idec.com