The European Commission has amended the Annex to the RoHS Directive with six more to add to the 32 that currently sit within Annex 5 of the so called "RoHS2" proposals.
They are:
33: Lead in solders for the soldering of thin copper wires of 100 µm diameter and less in power transformers.
34: Lead in cermet-based trimmer potentiometer elements.
35: Cadmium in photoresistors for optocouplers applied in professional audio equipment (until 31 December 2009).
36: Mercury used as a cathode sputtering inhibitor in DC plasma displays with a content up to 30 mg per (until 1 July 2010).
37: Lead in the plating of high voltage diodes on the basis of a zinc borate glass body.
38: Cadmium and cadmium oxide in thick film pastes used on aluminium bonded beryllium oxide.
No suitable alternatives are currently available on 33, 34, 37 and 38 although it should be possible on 35 by 31 December 2009 and 36 by 1 July 2010.
Directive 2002/95/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.
Directive Decoder
Gary Nevison, Head of Legislation at