• FAQ
• Glossary
• Site Map

Frequently Asked Questions

What is RoHS?

The term "RoHS" generally refers to the European Unions directive concerning "the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment".

The EU RoHS directive bans the placing on the EU market of new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of six substances: lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl, and polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants.

Although originally referred to as simply "RoHS," we now use the phrase "EU RoHS" to distinguish this directive from the growing list of similar regulations emerging in other regions outside of the EU such as the so-called "China RoHS," "Korea ROHS," and "California RoHS" regulations.

• View the text of the EU RoHS directive (PDF, 116 KB) »

How do you pronounce "RoHS?"

RoHS is alternatively pronounced as: "R-O-H-S," "ross," "row-hoss," "rosh," "rohas", or "rose."

• View a survey of RoHS pronounciation »
  

Does my product need to comply with EU RoHS?

The EU RoHS directive applies to the following categories of electrical and electronic equipment (as defined by a section of the WEEE directive):

• Large household appliances
• Small household appliances
• IT & telecommunications equipment
• Consumer equipment
• Lighting equipment
• Electrical and electronic tools
• Certain toys, leisure and sports equipment
• Automatic dispensers

 

The UK's National Weights & Measure Laboratory (NWML) has published an online decision tree that manufacturer's may use as a guide to determine if their products need to comply with EU RoHS.

• View the RoHS decision tree »

I'm a component or sub-assembly supplier. Do my products need to comply with EU RoHS?

Since the EU RoHS directive places the responsibility of compliance on the company that puts the product on the market, manufacturers of components and subassemblies used in those products are generally not "officially" responsible for product compliance.

However there are exceptions, and given the fact that the regulation is applied at the homogeneous material level, at the very least, data on substance concentrations of components and sub-assemblies will need to be provided by these suppliers and delivered to the final producer.

Producers are demanding this information from their suppliers in order to (1) determine if their end products are compliant and (2) collect documentary evidence that their products are compliant. The IPC trade group has developed and published a standard to facilitate this data exchange. More information on this IPC standard can be found at the IPC website.

I have established that my product is either EU RoHS compliant or is outside the scope of the directive. What about China RoHS?

All regulations that are similar to EU RoHS, such as China RoHS, Korea RoHS, and California RoHS, should be interpreted and addressed by manufacturers on an individual basis. Just because a product complies with EU RoHS or is exempt from EU RoHS does not necessarily mean it complies with or is exempt from any other, "RoHS-like" regulation.

China RoHS provides a good example. The scope of products to which China RoHS applies will be broader than that of EU RoHS. For example, manufacturers of semiconductor equipment - a product category that is outside the scope of EU RoHS – may need to establish that their products are China RoHS compliant.

In fact, the trade group SEMI issued a "'China RoHS' Regulatory Alert" in October 2006 warning members of this key difference between EU RoHS and China RoHS.

In the United States, what is the current status of environmental legislation related to electronics waste?

In the US, equivalent legislation to RoHS will be enacted at the state level. Since 2001 California and Maine have enacted landmark bills.

• Learn more about enacted and pending state legislations in the US »