Greetings All,
Many members have expressed their concerns in regard to the maximum permissive limits for hazardous substances set by China. Thanks to Michael Kirschner of Design Chain Associates' help, I put together the following information for your reference. The standard for the limits is in "Requirements for Concentration Limits for Certain Hazardous Substances in Electronic Information Products". A draft copy of this standard in Chinese can be found at http://www.b2bic.com/pics/fagui2_rohs11.pdf (this is a non-government web site). This standard classifies electronic information products (EIP) into four (4) types: EIP-A, EIP-B, EIP-C, and EIP-D. A definition for each type is stated in Table 1 under Section 4.1. Limits for each type of EIP are shown in Table 2, under Section 4.2. Exemptions under EU RoHS can be found under EIP-D of Table 2. I translated Section 4 and pasted below for your convenience. Best regards, Grace Lin Grace Compliance Specialist New Jersey, USA grace...@graspllc.com www.graspllc.com <http://www.graspllc.com/> 4. Technical Requirements Electronic information products consist of assemblies, components, and materials. The basic unit is material. For the purpose of controlling the use of hazardous substances, these units are classified based on Table 1. If there is a duplicate or conflict of types, the priority is: EIP-D, EIP-A, EIP-B, EIP-C. This means if a product can be a type of EIP-A, it cannot be categorized as EIP-B or EIP-C. Each material or part in electronic information products must meet technical requirements, see Table 2 for detail. 4.1 Classification of Materials (Unit) in Electronic Information Products Table 1 Classification of Materials in Electronic Information Products Types Definition EIP-A Each homogeneous material in electronic information products EIP-B Metal plated materials in each part of electronic information products EIP-C Small components or materials that cannot be separated under current condition. A general rule is for specification less than or equal to 1.2mm3 (note: equal to 0805 sheet components) EIP-D Special materials or special parts in electronic information products. See Table 2 for the detail. 4.2 Requirements for Concentration Limits for Hazardous Substance A manufacturer shall classify its materials based on Table 1, and control the content of hazardous substances to meet limit requirement in Table 2. Test organizations of electronic information products shall disassembly a product to the types listed in Table 1, then perform test to determine if Table 2 requirement is met. Table 2 Requirements for Concentration Limits for Hazardous Substances Types Concentration Limits for Hazardous Substances (For those requirements with quantity, the unit is wt%) EIP-A For homogeneous materials, the content of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (not including decabromo diphenyl) should not over 0.1%. The content of cadmium should not over 0.01%. EIP-B In this type of products, lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, etc. hazardous substances cannot be added intentionally or use. EIP-C For homogeneous materials, the content of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (not including decabromo diphenyl) should not over 0.1%. The content of cadmium should not over 0.01%. EIP-D Mercury in compact fluorescent lamp not exceeding 5mg per lamp. Mercury for a general purpose straight fluorescent lamp not exceeding: halophosphate 10mg, triphosphate with normal lifetime 5mg, triphosphate with long lifetime 8mg. Mercury in straight fluorescent lamps for special purposes. Mercury in other special lamps. Lead in glass of cathode ray tubes, electronic components and fluorescent tubes. Lead as an alloying element in steel containing up to 0,35% lead by weight, aluminum containing up to 0,4% lead by weight and as a copper alloy containing up to 4% lead by weight. Lead in high melting temperature type solders, not limit lead in exceeding 85%; Not limit lead in solders for servers, storage and storage array systems; Not limit lead in solders for network infrastructure equipment for switching, signaling, transmission as well as network management for telecommunication; Not limit lead in electronic ceramic parts No limit for the use of Cadmium and its compounds in electrical contacts and cadmium plating No limit for the use of hexavalent chromium as an anti-corrosion of the carbon steel cooling system in absorption refrigerators. No limit for lead used in pin type crimp connectors. No limit for the use lead as a surface coating material for the thermal conduction module c-ring. No limit for the use of lead or cadmium in optical filter glass. No limit for the use of lead in solders consisting of more than two elements for the connection between the pins and the package of microprocessors with a lead content of more than 80 % and less than 85 % by weight. No limit for the use of lead in solders to complete a viable electrical connection between semiconductor die and carrier within integrated circuit Flip Chip packages. No limit for the use of Deca BDE Note D type materials or components will be changed based on the scope adjustment under Section 1 of this standard. - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. 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