The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has released exemptions for lead content in electronic components.
Following the announcement on February 12, 2009, of the interim final rule for lead content exemptions for certain electronic product components, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a formal interim final rule (please refer to...)Children’s Products Containing Lead, Exemptions for Certain Electronic Devices; Interim Final Rule,16 CFR Part 1500, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Vol 74, No. 28, Federal Register, February 12, 2009Following this, the formal exemption terms were announced on January 12, 2010.http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr10/electronic.pdfThe prerequisite for exemption is that the component is crucial to the operation of the electronic product, and current technology cannot meet the lead content requirements stipulated by regulations.
Section 101(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) requires that all consumer products designed or intended for use by children aged 12 or under must contain less than 300 ppm of lead after August 14, 2009, and less than 100 ppm after August 14, 2011.
Because Section 101(b)(2) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) already stipulates that lead content requirements do not apply to parts that are not easily accessible to children, this exemption clause addresses the exemption of lead content for parts that are easily accessible to children but for which current technology makes it impossible to meet lead content requirements, as well as for replaceable parts.
The exemptions listed in the official version of the exemption clauses released this year are similar to those in the official transitional clauses released last year. These exemptions will be reviewed every five years.
The following is a summary of the exemption items (the content is similar to the lead exemption items in the EU RoHS Directive):
1. Accessories that are not easily accessible (assess whether they are easily accessible according to 16 CFR 1500.48 and 1500.49).
2. Lead content in the glass of cathode ray tubes (CRTs), electronic components, and fluorescent tubes.
3. The lead content in the steel alloy shall not exceed 0.35% (w/w) or 3500 ppm.
4. The lead content in the aluminum alloy shall not exceed 0.4% (w/w) or 4000 ppm.
5. The lead content in the copper alloy shall not exceed 4% (w/w) or 40,000 ppm.
6. Lead used in lead-bronze bearing housings
7. Lead used in compliant pin connection systems
8. Lead used in optical glass and filter glass
9. Lead oxide used in components of plasma display panels (PDPs) and surface-conductive electron emission displays (SEDs).
10. Lead oxide contained in the glass casing of blue-black fluorescent tubes.
11. Removable or replaceable electronic components (such as battery pack and light bulb components, which do not come into contact with lead-containing parts during product assembly).
– Reference source: SGS SafeGuards newsletter, February 8, 2010
– Translated by the Plastics Industry Technology Development Center Foundation
– For reference only, please refer to the original text.
