RoHS Fasteners.com is your number one information source for the RoHS Directive and its impact on your business. You will find everything you need to know about RoHS materials in fasteners, compliant RoHS fastener vendors, and what you can and cannot do with existing fastener inventory not meeting RoHS standards. And if all this information is not enough, RoHS Fasteners.com provides a toll-free phone line for RoHS fastener product information and sourcing.  
The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) 2002/95/EC is a set of regulations regarding the sale and use of certain restricted substances in electrical equipment. Most often present in fasteners, these materials cannot be used in products for sale. Set to take effect on July 1, 2006, the directive restricts the use of:
    • Lead
    • Mercury
    • Cadmium
    • Chromium VI
    • PBB*
    • PBDE*
* Flame retardants used in some plastics

While the RoHS Directive limits the sale of electronic parts with non-compliant materials, you are free to sell these parts outside of the EU. Also, you may continue to use these parts in-house. The RoHS Directive specifically forbids the sale of any non-compliant parts after July 1, 2006 so the best solution is to liquidate these parts before the Directive comes into effect. Another option is to strip the fasteners containing non-compliant materials from the devices and use them elsewhere.