Influence of RoHS-directive to reliability of electronics - preproject (ROVEL). ROVEL summary report

The target of this prestudy was to study the necessary changes in electronics due to the so called RoHS -directive (Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 27 January 2003, on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. The directive will ban the use of lead, quicksilver, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and flame retardant materials PBB (polybrominated biphenyls) and PBDE (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in new electronic products put to market after 1 July 2006. The needed changes in materials and processes may alter the product so much that its properties do not correspond present. The changes due to the directive were studied by collecting information from Finnish and international research projects