RoHS and Environmental Compliance for China Electronics
1 resources tagged with "Environmental"
Environmental compliance for electronics sourced from China centers on RoHS 2 (EU Directive 2011/65/EU), which restricts 10 substances including lead, cadmium, mercury, and four phthalates, each capped at 0.1% by weight in homogeneous materials (cadmium at 0.01%). A 'RoHS compliant' claim is meaningless without a valid declaration backed by either material test reports or supplier declarations down the BOM. The frequent failure is solder, cables, or connector plating that quietly exceed limits while the main PCB tests clean.
Environmental compliance covers restricted-substance rules like RoHS and related directives that govern what materials a product may contain. The pitfall in sourcing is accepting a single top-level RoHS certificate; compliance is per homogeneous material, so plating, solder, and cable insulation each need to be covered.
Wiki (1)
FAQ
How many substances does RoHS 2 restrict?
RoHS 2 restricts 10 substances: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB, PBDE, and four phthalates (DEHP, BBP, DBP, DIBP). Most are limited to 0.1% by weight per homogeneous material, with cadmium at 0.01%.
How do I verify a Chinese supplier's RoHS claim?
Ask for a third-party material test report (XRF screening plus wet-chemistry for phthalates) covering the actual materials in your product, not a generic certificate. We spot-test high-risk parts like solder, plating, and cable jackets where violations usually hide.
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