Sludge Watch ==> Hand held Soil Analyzer - Powerful tool for testing unknown materials - sludge?

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

*Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) - July 1, 2006
*Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)  - August of 2005
July 1, 2006 will forever change the landscape of  doing business in Europe. 
This date marks the formal beginning of full compliance with the European 
Union Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive which forbids 
delivery to consumers of any product containing excessive amounts of 
prohibited substances.

Known more specifically as EU 2002/95/EC, the RoHS Directive calls on 
manufacturers to be environmentally responsible and to not intentionally use 
in their products any homogeneous materials, parts or subassemblies that 
contain more than 1000 mg/kg each of mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), hexavalent 
chromium (Cr+6), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl 
ethers (PBDE), and more than 100 mg/kg of cadmium (Cd).

Another Directive, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) 
Directive (known more specifically as EU 2002/96/EC) which became effective 
in August of 2005, mandates manufacturers to collect and recycle products 
that enter the market after August 13, 2005 or face a penalty equal to 2% of 
their revenue.

The purpose of the regulations is to reduce and eventually eliminate the use 
of prohibited substances at the source (RoHS), and then recycle as much of 
the product as possible after its useful life, in order to minimize the 
issues of disposal (WEEE).

It should be no surprise that these initiatives originated in Europe which 
is about 40% the size of the United States and yet has nearly twice as many 
inhabitants; Europe was practically forced to act before being flooded with 
the ever increasing stream of consumer waste. Other countries, including 
China and the United States, are now following Europe’s lead.

The enforcement of these regulations can be effective only if sensitive and 
reliable testing methods and instruments are readily available for the 
parties involved. Because of the sheer number of components, sub-assemblies 
and products involved, a one-hundred percent testing of all products is 
simply impossible. Therefore, industries have developed programs that 
involve heavy reliance on material declaration and certification for 
compliant (“green”) components. However, the only way to ultimately verify 
or confirm compliance (“Due Diligence”) is via testing.

With this daunting task ahead, the need to screen the finished product for 
compliance without the need for its complete disassembly becomes crucial.

Thermo Electron’s NITON XLt hand-held, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, is 
a powerful tool for analyzing the elemental composition of unknown 
materials.   For years used for non-destructive metal alloy analysis and 
identification, and for monitoring metallic contaminants in soil as well as 
lead in painted surfaces, has proven a particularly suitable solution for 
the electronics industry for the first-line screening of prohibited 
substances under the RoHS Directive.

They offer total elemental analysis of the RoHS related elements along with 
over a dozen other elements simultaneously....does not require any 
consumables and their maintenance costs are negligible.

The portability aspect ...ability to bring the “laboratory” to the object to 
be analyzed, results automatically in improvements on many fronts. First and 
foremost, the cost of testing and yield of results in real-time. 
Consequently, more extensive testing will be performed and many objects will 
be tested that otherwise might not be. The increased level of testing will 
translate into better compliance, especially if administered by 
organizations responsible for the enforcement aspect.

Secondly, provides the ability to verify compliance while greatly reducing 
the need to resort to destructive laboratory methods while being able to 
perform overall more efficient testing with only confirmatory follow-up 
tests on inconclusive or questionable materials.




Click here to sign up for the next free webinar to learn more on how testing 
with a NITON analyzer can assist in ensuring RoHS compliance.


http://www.rohswell.com/News/Tools003.php