Decision 2006/310 - 2006/310/EC: Commission Decision of 21 April 2006 amending, for the purposes of adapting to the technical progress, the Annex to Directive 2002/95/EC as regards exemptions for applications of lead (notified under document number C(2006) 1622) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 115/38

Under Directive 2002/95/EC the Commission is required to evaluate certain hazardous substances prohibited pursuant to Article 4(1) of that Directive.

Certain materials and components containing lead should be exempted from the prohibition, since the use of these hazardous substances in those specific materials and components is still unavoidable.

Certain materials and components containing lead should be exempted from the prohibition, since the negative environmental, health and/or consumer safety impacts caused by substitution are likely to outweigh the environmental, health and/or consumer safety benefits thereof.

Some exemptions from the prohibition for certain specific materials or components should be limited in their scope, in order to achieve a gradual phase-out of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, given that the use of those substances in such applications will become avoidable.

Pursuant to Article 5(1)(c) of Directive 2002/95/EC each exemption listed in the Annex must be subject to a review at least every four years or four years after an item is added to the list with the aim of considering deletion of materials and components of electrical and electronic equipment if their elimination or substitution via design changes or materials and components which do not require any of the materials or substances referred to in Article 4(1) of that Directive is technically or scientifically possible, provided that the negative environmental, health and/or consumer safety impacts caused by substitution do not outweigh the possible environmental, health and/or consumer safety benefits thereof.

Directive 2002/95/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

Pursuant to Article 5(2) of Directive 2002/95/EC the Commission has consulted producers of electrical and electronic equipment, recyclers, treatment operators, environmental organisations and employee and consumers associations.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 18 of Council Directive 75/442/EEC (2),

Lead in linear incandescent lamps with silicate coated tubes.

Lead halide as radiant agent in High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps used for professional reprography applications.

Lead as activator in the fluorescent powder (1 % lead by weight or less) of discharge lamps when used as sun tanning lamps containing phosphors such as BSP (BaSi2O5:Pb) as well as when used as speciality lamps for diazo-printing reprography, lithography, insect traps, photochemical and curing processes containing phosphors such as SMS ((Sr,Ba)2MgSi2O7:Pb).

Lead with PbBiSn-Hg and PbInSn-Hg in specific compositions as main amalgam and with PbSn-Hg as auxiliary amalgam in very compact Energy Saving Lamps (ESL).

Lead oxide in glass used for bonding front and rear substrates of flat fluorescent lamps used for Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD).’