Electronics firms start revealing poisons in their products

SIX TOXIC SUBSTANCES widely used in electronics products will be banned inside the European Union by July 2006, and manufacturers are now taking steps to phase them out, although this may not be as easy as it seems.

The particular €U directive is the ROHS directive, which has already received fierce representations from the American Electronics Association, the Electronics Industries Alliance, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and Semiconductor Industry Association.

The toxic products in question include lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers.

The directive is being taken so seriously by the industry that, for example, at the JEDEC conference later this month, lead free alternatives is one of the leading tracks.

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, here, shows the toxic substances in computer and electronic products.

According to nikkei.net, Japanese firms Sony, NEC and Matsushita are preparing lists of chemicals and elements used in their products, and putting pressure on their suppliers not to use the soon-to-be-banned substances. µ