RoHS: What You Should Know

The European Union’s Directive 2002/95/EC “Restriction of certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment” (RoHS) was to become effective for all products placed on the EU market after July 1, 2006. Additional countries are also considering similar RoHS type legislation that mirrors the EU directive.

The RoHS directive imposes restrictions on the content of various heavy metals and brominated flame retardants (BFRs). The list of restricted substances in electrical and electronics includes the following:

• Hexavalent chromium (Cr+6)

• Cadmium (Cd)

• Mercury (Hg)

• Lead (Pb)

• Polybrominated Biphenyl (PBB) and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) flame retardants

The RoHS directive applies to 8 broad categories of electrical and electronic equipment, as described in Annex-A of the complimentary directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Two other categories of equipment within this annex are exempt from RoHS compliance at this time, and these are:

• Category (8): Medical devices.

• Category (9): Monitoring and Controlling Instruments

Absolute Analysis' Position on RoHS Compliance

Absolute Analysis’ products belong to category (9), Monitoring and Controlling Instruments, and are therefore exempt from RoHS requirements until the year 2010. Due to concerns in the reliability of lead-free solder for products with long lifecycles, Absolute Analysis will not transition to use lead-free solder by July 01, 2006 for its products. However, Absolute Analysis will continue to closely study the reliability of lead-free solder, and will make the transition when more reliability data has been established by the industry.

Absolute Analysis is committed to delivering products with advanced capabilities, high quality and reliability. Our typical customers are developmental engineering organizations within the Storage Networking and Governmental agencies. They rely on Absolute Analysis to provide cutting edge tools, built with components that have advanced performance capabilities. These capabilities enable our customers to deploy and verify evolving and leading communication systems which often precede the widespread availability or deployment of these systems.

Like many test and measurement equipment manufacturers, Absolute Analysis is confronted with the risk of switching to lead-free solder technology for which the best available chemistry and long-term reliability remains unproven. We are also challenged with the task of redesigning our existing product line with critical components that may have no suitable RoHS compliant alternative. Where possible and proven RoHS alternatives exist, Absolute Analysis will comply and many of our products already are 90% or more compliant. Absolute Analysis is committed to being environmentally responsible, and is eager to evaluate and use RoHS compliant components, wherever possible, for our future product designs.

WEEE Directive Status

While we expect our products to have a very long and useful lifespan of well over 10 to 15 years, Absolute Analysis also aims to minimize the environmental impact of products when they reach their end of life. When you decide your Absolute Analysis product has reached the end of its product lifecycle, we encourage you to send the product to Absolute Analysis for reuse and/or recycling.

Contact Information

For questions about Absolute Analysis RoHS & WEEE compliance initiative, please contact Absolute Analysis Sales and Operations Department at (805) 376-6048 or AAsales@absoluteanalysis.com.