The European Union's "Official Journal" published European Commission Regulation No. 494/2011 on May 21, 2011, extending the ban on cadmium-containing products to plastic items, jewelry and brazed rods.
Since 1992, the EU has banned the use of cadmium in most plastics, and the ban was extended to batteries and electronic products in 2004. Under the 1992 ban, cadmium can still be used in some types of rigid plastics such as polyvinyl chloride due to the difficulty of finding suitable alternatives.
However, the European Commission determined that suitable alternatives were already on the market and therefore extended the ban to all plastic items.
According to the latest ban, articles and mixtures made of plastics that contain cadmium equal to or more than 0.01% by weight shall not be placed on the market.
However, the European Commission will continue to promote the recycling and reuse of PVC waste with low cadmium content, but only for a limited range of products, such as construction products.
Recycled low-cadmium PVC must bear a specific mark to let users know its cadmium content before it can be put on the market. Regulation No. 494/2011 will review this specific sign.
In addition, because certain types of jewelry on the market, such as artificial jewelry, have been found to contain dangerous levels of cadmium, the European Commission has decided that it is necessary to implement a ban to regulate the cadmium content in jewelry. Cadmium is a carcinogen that can enter the bloodstream through contact with the skin. Therefore, the European Commission believes that the use of cadmium in jewelry must be completely banned.
Regulation No. 494/2011 stipulates relevant provisions to prohibit the placing on the market of products with a cadmium content exceeding 0.01% by weight. These products include:
- Metal beads and other metal components used in the manufacture of jewelry;
- Metal parts of the following jewelry, costume jewelry and headwear:
- Bracelets, necklaces and rings;
- Piercing Jewelry;
- watches and wristbands;
- Brooches and cufflinks
Finally, the European Commission will expand the scope of the ban to include brazed poles. Copper soldering rods are used for high-temperature (higher than traditional solder) soldering metals. Consumers only use brazed rods in a few specific situations and are not widely used, such as making model trains and cars. Brass soldering rods containing cadmium will release smoke when heated, which is very dangerous if inhaled.
In the defense and aerospace industries, copper welding rods containing cadmium can still be used.
Regulation No. 494/2011 will come into effect on January 10, 2012, and products subject to the ban will not be placed on the EU market thereafter.
The above three prohibitions will be added to Annex XVII of Regulation No. 1907/2006 (the REACH Regulation).
Commission Regulation No. 494/2011 is available at the following website:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:134:0002:0005:EN:PDF
Source: hktdc.com (2011-06-03)
