Don't ban flame retardants, IPC says to Europe

LONDON — The Association of Connecting Electronics Industries, a trade organization also known as IPC, is lobbying to try and make sure that certain substances are not banned in a revision of the ROHS (Restriction on Hazardous Substances] directive that is being considered in the European Parliament.

Of particular concern, IPC said, is an amendment proposed in the draft revision of ROHS before the EU Parliament that bans all brominated and chlorinated flame retardants, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlorinated plasticizers and three phthalates. The European Parliament is about to consider stipulating the use of non-halogenated alternatives.

Fern Abrams, IPC director of government relations and environmental policy said: "Restricting an entire class of compounds — brominated and chlorinated flame retardants — without a strong scientific basis risks wasting societal resources to develop and implement substitutes and potentially risks unintended consequences associated with alternative substances."

IPC argues that a change to the ROHS directive could make it inconsistent with a parallel regulation; the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH).

According to the amendment proposed for consideration in Parliament, Tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA), the primary brominated flame retardant used in printed boards, would be banned under a revised RoHS directive, IPC said, adding that this would be at odds with the REACH regulation. Several scientific studies of TBBPA, including a comprehensive EU Risk Assessment, found TBBPA to be safe for human health and the environment, IPC added. "In order to ensure a positive impact on the environment, the recast of RoHS must improve the scientific basis of this important environmental directive and unify European chemicals regulations by aligning the RoHS directive with the REACH regulation," said Lee Wilmot, director of environmental health and safety (EHS) at TTM Technologies, and chairman of IPC's EHS Steering Committee.

IPC has released a document entitled "Recasting the RoHS directive: an opportunity to solidify its scientific basis in support of comprehensive environmental regulation" which could be downloaded from "leadfree.ipc.org/recasting-rohs-directive when this story was first posted. Copies of the document would be sent to the members of the EU Council and members of the EU Parliament's Environment Committee, IPC said.