RoHS.

This page is a general guide only. More information is available from the European and UK government Websites. Anyone in business should legal advice for anything they are not certain about.

Across Europe, to reduce the dumping of hazardous materials, there are now laws regarding certain hazardous substances being used within electronic equipment.

As usual for Europe, one absolute standard cannot really be agreed on.
There is a common European recommendation, around which each member state can make their own decisions.

The UK brought RoHS rules into effect in 2006, with a list of exclusions. These exclusions are there for good reasons.

These laws affect manufacturers, dealers and service engineers, although the service industry has a large area of exclusion from the rules.

Products first placed on the market before 2006.
Anything already available may still be manufactured and sold.
When servicing non-RoHS compliant products, original parts should be used. RoHS compliant parts may raise compatibility problems.