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Product category: Testing and Calibration Services and Information
News Release from: Spectro Analytical Instruments | Subject: RoHS and WEEE information
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 24 November 2005

Free advice on RoHS and WEEE analysis

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Spectro Analytical Instruments has a free information package available for those interested in the analytical requirements for the European Union's RoHS and WEEE Directives.

Spectro Analytical Instruments has a free information package available for those interested in the analytical requirements for the European Union's RoHS and WEEE Directives The package includes an informative, six-page brochure: "Screening and analysis of electrical instruments and components", as well as instructive application reports

The package was developed to help affected businesses deal with the new regulations and offers explanations of the analytical instruments and methods best suited for examining potentially harmful substances.

The RoHS Directive forbids the use of the hazardous metals cadmium, lead and mercury as well as hexavalent chromium and the brominated flame retardants containing PBB and PBDE.

The limiting value for cadmium in all electrical and electronic instruments and components marketed in the EU is set to 100mg/kg.

The concentrations for lead, mercury and hexavalent chromium as well as the bromine-based flame-retardants, PBB and PBDE, are not allowed to exceed 1000mg/kg.

The WEEE Directive defines recycling quotas for old appliances, regulates the recycling and reuse of electrical and electronic waste.

Companies are required to prove that these limitations have been met with adequate screenings and analyses.

To prevent hazardous substances from entering into recycling products, companies are required to continuously prove that hazardous substance limitations have been met in recycled materials and recycling products.

Spectro's brochure, which is available online in German and English, serves as an easy to understand introduction for companies in the electrical and electronics industries.

It summarises key points within the guidelines and provides an overview of the products and technologies used to examine the products defined in RoHS and ElektroG and for determining that limiting values have been met.

The brochure concentrates on two of the procedures recommended by the International Electrotechnical Commission in IEC111 24/CD: energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis (EDXRFA) that allows for quick quantitative screenings with minimal sample preparation and optical emission spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma that provides additional clarity if the measurement results from the EDXRF analyser are considered ambiguous.

In addition, Spectro's website offers four current application reports from Spectro that illustrate in detail how the RoHS limiting values can be verified with the EDXRFA spectrometers XEPOS, MIDEX and MIDEX M as well as the Spectro CIROS Vision ICP OES.

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