rohs-analysis.com

Analyses

Analyses of EEE (electrical and electronic equipment) comprise a variety of sample types, substances to be determined and analytical techniques, the latter including different methods for preparing and chemically decomposing the sample prior to the instrumental measurement.
ALS Scandinavia has, since the first method development work in 1999, gained considerable experience in analysis of EEE on a contract basis. Some features of our services are:

Care is taken to define, together with the customer, which parts shall be analyzed, which substances shall be determined, and under which conditions.

Samples received, as well as all disassembled or removed parts (e g steel covers), are accurately accounted for by weighing.

Homogeneous materials are analyzed as received or after separation from products or product parts, while larger, inhomogeneous units, e.g., circuit boards, can be homogenized by grinding to enable representative subsampling. If a banned substance is detected in the subsample, further investigation is needed.

The samples are acid digested before the elemental analysis, by a method which enables quantitative determination of many metals.

Use of analytical techniques with very low limits of determination (reporting limits), often far below MCV - this not only favours reliability at MCV levels, but enables informative calculations of “highest possible percentage of non-compatible material”* in non-homogeneous units.

Report formats and contents are, on request, defined together with the customer.

It should be noted that there is a number of applications of the metals that are exempted from the requirements; these are specified in an Annex to the directive. For details, please refer to this text.

Analyses according to the RoHS directive

Cd (0.5)	Cr⁶⁺ (2)	Hg (1)
Pb (1)	PBB+PBDE (0.020)

Figure in brackets denotes limit of quantification
in mg/kg (1 mg/kg=0.0001%). Please contact the laboratory for information on price and sample size!

Many substances outside the RoHS directive are also of interest in EEE, either from an economic viewpoint or in relation to the environment or to health and safety. They can be divided into the following groups:

Organic compounds, usually synthetic in origin, e g PCB, phthalates, TBBA.

Inorganic compounds, such as asbestos.

Elements, mainly metals. These usually occur in their "pure" metallic state or in alloys, but may also be present in compounds (e g beryllium in ceramics, organotin compounds). They range from very common constituents (iron, copper, lead) to relatively rare elements such as indium. Some are of economic interest in recycling of EEE, including the noble metals gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.

For detailed information on ALS Scandinavia’s services (analytical packages), please follow the links to our home page given below.

“Screening” analysis, i e testing for more than 70 elements in EEE.

Packages for quantitation of selected metals in EEE.

Packages for quantitation of organic compounds in EEE.

* This can be easily explained by an example. A component with a weight of 0,2 g is to be analyzed for Cd. It consists of three homogeneous materials A, B, and C, that are estimated to make up 50, 30, and 20 weight per cent, respectively, of the component. The materials are difficult to disassemble; the whole component is therefore milled, homogenized and analyzed as a whole. ALS Scandinavia’s reporting limit for Cd in a component of this weight is 5 mg/kg, which is equal to 0,0005%. The analysis shows that the Cd concentration in the component as a whole is below this limit. The RoHS maximum value is 0,01%. It follows that if a material in the component exceeds this value, it must make up less than 0,0005/0,01 = 0,05 or 5% of the total component mass. Since each of the constituent materials (A, B, C) makes up a much larger fraction, it can be concluded that neither of them contains Cd in excess of 0,01%, and that the component is RoHS compliant with respect to Cd.