ROHS is the European Union’s Restriction On the use of certain Hazardous Substances. It has been adopted by a number of countries and states including China and California who have introduced their own legislation. While there are some current exemptions, full compliance is slated for 2010 and will certainly impact North American manufacturers.

The electronics industry has been working towards eliminating lead used in electronics for many years. The industry and our customers face a large number of challenges ranging from finishes to plating, paste selection, elevated process temperatures, profiling and rework to comply with the new directives. Banned substances include lead, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), cadmium, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), mercury, and hexavalent chromium.

The move towards Lead Free compliance will have an impact on costs as new processes, materials and requirements are introduced. Component selection, qualification and the production of new stencils will require investment of time and funds.

Customers are responsible for Material Declaration and the compliance of final BOM components. At this time they must have a thorough understanding of which products are required to be lead-free, which can be exempted and the compatibility of materials.

At Guardian we are fully qualified to perform lead free soldering for SMT, Thru-hole and Mixed technology products. To ensure our ability to deliver the highest quality product possible, Cookson Electronics performed an independent analysis of our soldering quality. They carried out multiple tests on various solder formulae and the latest in component technologies that we manufacture with to ensure a broad spectrum of capability was validated. A copy of the certificate and report can be made available on request.