ROHM's current lead-free products, including LSI, semiconductors and passive device products, comply with the WEEE*¹ (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and the RoHS*² (Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment) directives issued in Europe. ROHM products do not contain substances banned under the RoHS directive (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers).
Please note that ROHM offers products containing lead, a material prohibited by the RoHS directive, since no suitable replacement currently exists. However, in each case the reason for usage is clearly defined. Please refer to the applicable part number when searching.
*1 WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment): The WEEE directive is designed to regulate the collection, reuse, recycling and recovery of waste in electrical and electronic equipment. The directive requires manufacturers to appropriately dispose of WEEE waste that they produce. The directive also requires manufacturers to design and produce new products that take disposal processes into consideration.

*2 RoHS (Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment). There are six restricted substances: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers.

The WEEE directive will become effective on July 1, 2006 in Europe. The WEEE directive, however, does not specify restricted substances and their allowable usage amounts. These specifics are included in the RoHS directive which also becomes effective on July 1, 2006. As of today, all of the substances covered by the RoHS directive (except lead) have been eliminated from ROHM products. ROHM products will be in compliance with the entire RoHS directive once lead is eliminated.

The July 2006 RoHS Directive, March 2007 Chinese RoHS Directive, and June 2007 European REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) have been enacted in order to minimize the impact on the environment by prohibiting the use of harmful substances in electronic products.

At ROHM we have established an environmental management system that prevents the presence, use, and shipment of prohibited substances, ensuring compliance with all regulations while minimizing the burden on the environment.

ROHM has, in addition to the six substances prohibited by the RoHS Directive, designated 65 additional substances, including those subject to environmental regulations as well as voluntarily prohibited materials.
We have also established green procurement standards regarding hazardous materials, and obtain certificates from all our vendors certifying that prohibited substances are not used. Moreover, fluorescent X-ray spectrography equipment has been installed at all of our production centers and regular inspections are performed on materials and components supplied by our vendors.
We have also introduced inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) in ROHM quality assurance laboratories to analyze products destined for shipment to customers.
These measures have been established in order to ensure that no prohibited or hazardous substances are introduced to or shipped from the ROHM Group.