When is safe not safe?
03 July 2007
When it is environmentally safe is the answer – or at least a possible answer. Further to my comments last week about the implementation of the WEEE Directive, I received the opinions of Graham Naisbitt, which I urge you to read (Click here), reminding us that last Sunday was the first anniversary of the introduction of the ROHS Directive.
Graham raises some very interesting points, but the main one – and one that I think has been largely forgotten over the past few years – is the fundamental question of the reliability of solder joints made with lead-free solders.This was a question that was often put forward all those years ago when the legislation was in its early stages, but along with the genuine concerns there were also many people who jumped on that band-wagon for the simple reason that they were looking for excuses not to move to lead-free. Any excuse not to move to lead-free was a good one!
However, perhaps too much of the argument in Europe quickly moved into who was exempt, and thereafter the technicalities of the lead-free process. Despite a few dissenting voices, in retrospect the inquiring minds in industry put too much of their focus on finding the manufacturing solutions rather than exploring the consequences. The Japanese, whose leadership in this aspect is a model of how to get things done if you are committed to it, were relatively unencumbered by thoughts of long-term reliability. Unless you are the sole photographer at a wedding, nobody is going to die if a digital camera breaks down. Other products that blazed the lead-free trail, like DVD players and televisions, were likely to become obsolete before their lead-free joints became unreliable. But maybe it was partly down to the success and speed of the lead-free introduction in Japan that forced the issue in Europe to become one of ‘how soon’ rather than ‘why’.
But is it too late for the global industry to do anything about it? I do hope not. The EU’s RoHS directive, which is broadly replicated elsewhere in the world, is due to be implemented in the second wave of industries in 2010 – those industries that were exempt initially so that we could be sure that the technology was safe. The product life cycle of many of these products – including cars, aeroplanes, industrial controls, medical equipment – is substantially longer than for the average DVD player. These products are on the drawing board at the moment and yet we are far from being convinced that the components and the way we assemble them are safe. What is worse is that many ‘exempt’ manufacturers are already using lead-free components and processes to avoid obsolescence issues as their suppliers no longer find it viable to support leaded components. This is an issue in itself, but the thought of tin whiskers creeping around the circuit boards of my car as I speed along in the outside lane are less than appealing.
I’m not saying that lead-free is not safe, but I do think the industry needs to satisfy itself that it genuinely is safe before we implement it in the really critical electronics.
Contact Details and Archive...
Most Viewed Articles...