Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive

Background

The European Parliament has approved the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Directive (2002/95/EC). This Directive limits the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronics products sold in Europe after 01 July 2006.

The RoHS Directive states that the targeted materials shall no longer be contained in electronic products above certain limits unless there is an exemption provided in the rule.

This is commonly (although inaccurately) referred to as "Pb-Free". However the Directive includes other hazardous materials, so in theory a device could be lead-free but still not be RoHS compliant.

Pb-free definition

Component and Assembly Pb content shall be less than 0.1% by weight of the device (in accordance with IPC/EIA J-STD-006) and shall not be intentionally introduced.

Product Information

For a product to be RoHS compliant, it must satisfy several conditions:

• Contain no more than the specified limits of the target hazardous substances set out in the RoHS Directive
• Able to withstand Pb-free 260°C solder reflow profile
• External packaging and terminations are Pb-free
• Internal PCB, components, solders, and terminations are Pb-free

Product pages on our website use the following icons to indicate the RoHS status of our products.

Symbol	Meaning
	Product is RoHS compliant
	Product is 'lead-free' (< 0.1% by weight )

Other Information

The Directive