On 3^rd November 2003 the End-of-life vehicles regulations came into force in the UK.  From this date producers should have ensured that materials and components of vehicles put on the market do not contain lead, mercury, cadmium or hexavalent chromium except in the cases listed in Schedule 1 of those Regulations.  This schedule of exceptions includes:

Lead containing solder in electronic circuit boards and other electric applications, however it may need to be labeled or made identifiable in accordance with Article 4(2)(b)(iv) of the Directive. NB It is not clear whether this exemption applies to tin-lead electroplating.

 

Hexavalent chromium in corrosion preventative coatings until the 1^st July 2007.  NB This exemption applies to hexavalent chromium passivates used on copper, silver and zinc.

A maximum concentration value up to 0.1% by weight and per homogeneous material, for lead, hexavalent chromium and mercury and up to 0.01% by weight and per homogeneous material for cadmium shall be tolerated, provided these substances are not intentionally introduced .  "Intentionally introduced" shall mean "deliberately utilised in the formulation of a material or component where its continued presence is desired in the final product to provide a specific characteristic, appearance or quality".

This requirement has a particular implication for most electroless nickels where cadmium and lead are "deliberately used in the formulation" at a parts per million concentration to achieve brightness and bath stability, although it could be argued that their subsequent inclusion in the deposit is unintentional.

The EC Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) should have been transposed into UK law by 13^th August 2004 ( interestingly this has not yet occurred ). This requires that from 1^st July 2006 new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market does not contain lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB's or PBDE's.  As yet there are no maximum concentrations per homogeneous materials defined and further exemptions are currently under review. NB If maximum concentrations are not defined, zinc and tin plating would be prohibited due to the very low percentage of cadmium and lead present.

With regard to the finishes Frost Electroplating currently offers we can say the following are compliant;

We aim to eliminate the Degussa 328 passivate within a very short timescale.

Slotonip 2010 will remain until it is clear where it stands in relation to the end of life directive. The alternative is significantly more expensive and produces a much less bright finish.

The ongoing review of exceptions and concentrations with regard to the RoHS directive means that the situation may well change. We aim to provide updates in future newsletters.