This directive compliments the Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive. RoHS ensures that any electrical electronic equipment that enters waste streams or that is handled by recyclers is free of hazardous substances. There are also provisions relating to the design of electronic goods in order to promote environmentally-sound design.
Beginning July 1, 2006 all new electrical electronic equipment in the EU market are not to contain the following substances above specified concentrations: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers.
As part of compliance with RoHS, many electronic companies
are switching from the traditional lead-tin solder to newer lead-free solders. During this transition, difficulties relating to the manufacture and service life of these parts are at issue.
On April 20, 2006, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers - Santa Clara Valley presented a talk on RoHS. The speakers on the agenda included Dr. Audrey Fasching, a Senior Engineer in Exponent, Inc.'s Failure Analysis Associates' Mechanics and Materials practice. Dr. Fasching specializes in welding, brazing and soldering metal alloys, materials science, and failure analysis.
Also on the agenda was Dr. Daniel N. Donahoe, a Managing Engineer in Exponent, Inc.'s Mechanical Engineering and Materials/Metallurgy practice. Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Donahue was employed at Lockheed, Motorola, Ford Aerospace, Teledyne, Compaq Computer and Iomega, and the University of Maryland's industry and government sponsored CALCE, Electronic Products, and Systems Center. His
experience included work as a design engineer, reliability engineer, thermal engineer, manager, technologist, and scientist.
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