Glossary
129 entries, A–Z. Hover any highlighted term in an article for a quick definition.
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A
- Aarhus ProtocolThe 1998 UNECE protocol on persistent organic pollutants under the air-pollution convention, a regional instrument the EU POP Regulation also implements.
- AD-DSLThe aerospace and defence sector's shared list of substances to declare, maintained by the IAEG. It is the aerospace counterpart to the IEC 62474 list in electronics and GADSL in automotive.
- Antimony trioxideA flame-retardant synergist and PET catalyst that is a suspected carcinogen and sits on the REACH Candidate List of substances of very high concern.
- ArsenicA metalloid whose many compounds are carcinogenic. Several appear on the REACH Candidate List or Authorisation list, and arsenic shows up in specialty glass, semiconductors and historic wood preservatives.
- ArticleUnder REACH, an object whose shape, surface or design decides its function more than its chemical makeup, such as a cable, a screw or a phone housing.
- AuthorisationThe REACH process for the most hazardous substances, which are placed on Annex XIV. After a set sunset date a listed substance may only be used if the Commission has granted a specific authorisation for that use.
- AnnexesA map of the annexes that actually matter day-to-day: which list does what across REACH, RoHS, CLP and the POP Regulation.
B
- Basel ConventionA global treaty that controls cross-border movements of hazardous waste and its disposal, so that hazardous and electronic waste is not simply shipped to countries that cannot handle it safely.
- Battery RegulationThe EU regulation covering the whole life cycle of batteries. It replaces the old Battery Directive, limits mercury, cadmium and lead, requires a carbon-footprint declaration, recycled content, removability, due diligence, and a battery passport.
- BDIThe umbrella association of German industry. It speaks for industry across all sectors and issues guidance and implementation help on regulation, including chemicals and product compliance.
- BerylliumA light, stiff metal used in copper alloys for springs and connectors. Its dust is carcinogenic when inhaled, and it sits under REACH CoRAP evaluation while appearing in material declarations as a substance to watch.
- BOMA structured list of every part and material in a product. It is the backbone of a material declaration and a compliance assessment, because you can only check what you have listed.
- BPAA building block of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, and a developer in some thermal paper. It is toxic to reproduction, acts as an endocrine disruptor, and sits on the REACH Candidate List.
- BFRA class of bromine-based flame retardants added to plastics and electronics, including PBB, PBDE, HBCDD and TBBPA, whose persistence and dioxin risk drive the move to halogen-free.
C
- CadmiumA carcinogenic heavy metal carrying the strictest RoHS limit of 0.01 percent per homogeneous material, and also restricted under ELV and REACH Annex XVII.
- CAS numberA unique numeric identifier assigned by the Chemical Abstracts Service to every distinct chemical substance, used to name substances unambiguously in declarations.
- CE markingThe manufacturer's own statement that a product meets the EU rules that apply to it. For electronics that includes RoHS. It is self-declared, not a quality mark, and not issued by any authority.
- CENELECThe European standards body for electrotechnical standards. It turns many IEC standards into European Norms and works alongside CEN and ETSI.
- chemSHERPAA standardized scheme and data format, managed in Japan, for passing chemical-substance information in products through the supply chain. It succeeds the older JAMP AIS and MSDSplus and aligns with the IEC 62474 declarable substance list.
- China RoHSChina's restriction of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products, run as a marking duty plus a conformity scheme for catalogued products.
- Circular economyAn economic model that keeps materials in use as long as possible through reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling, cutting waste and raw-material demand. It is the idea behind WEEE, ELV, the Ecodesign Regulation and the SCIP database.
- CLPThe EU regulation that classifies, labels and packages hazardous chemicals, implementing the global GHS system and underpinning which substances become regulated elsewhere.
- CMRThree hazard categories that drive much of chemicals law: carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic to reproduction. A CMR classification often leads to REACH restriction or candidate listing.
- CobaltA metal central to lithium-ion battery cathodes, alloys, pigments and catalysts. Several cobalt salts are carcinogenic and on the REACH Candidate List, the metal is under evaluation, and its sourcing faces responsible-supply-chain scrutiny.
- Concentration limitThe level above which a substance must be reported or is restricted, most often 0.1 percent by weight in articles.
- Conflict MineralsRules and a standard reporting template (CMRT) for due diligence on tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (3TG) sourced from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.
- Conformity assessmentThe process of checking and showing that a product meets the applicable requirements before it is sold. For RoHS it ends in the technical file, the EU Declaration of Conformity and the CE mark.
- CoRAPREACH's rolling watch-list of substances being evaluated by member-state authorities. It is an early signal that a substance may face restriction.
- CSDDDEU directive that makes large companies carry out human-rights and environmental due diligence across their own operations and their value chains, and act on the risks they find.
- Cr VIA carcinogenic form of chromium restricted under RoHS at 0.1 percent and under ELV, with several Cr(VI) compounds on the REACH Authorisation list.
- CSCLJapan's main chemicals law, requiring notification of new chemicals and sorting substances into hazard classes, supported by the J-MOSS marking standard and the chemSHERPA data scheme.
- Candidate ListA searchable, filterable view of the full REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern, compiled and maintained by the Pareo team.
D
- Data sourcesWhere the data in this knowledge base comes from, how we keep our own maintained copy, and the licensing basis for reusing official EU and ECHA information.
- Declarable SubstanceA substance you have to report in a material declaration, distinct from one you merely watch because its status may change.
- DPPA structured, digitally accessible record of a product's key data, introduced by the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. It is phased in by product group, with batteries among the first.
- DINGermany's national standards body. When an international standard is adopted in Germany it gains a 'DIN EN' prefix, for example DIN EN IEC 63000.
- DKEGermany's national commission for electrotechnical standardisation. Its committee DKE/K 135 channels German input into the IEC 62474 material-declaration work.
- DSLThe maintained reference list at the heart of IEC 62474. It is the authoritative set of substances and substance groups that must be declared, each with a stated reason.
- Due diligenceA structured process to find, prevent and account for risks in a supply chain, such as conflict minerals, human rights or environmental harm. The OECD Due Diligence Guidance is the common framework, and the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation builds on it.
E
- EC numberA seven-digit identifier in the format NNN-NNN-N assigned to substances in the European inventory, used alongside the CAS number.
- ECHAThe EU agency in Helsinki that runs the main chemicals regulations. It keeps the REACH Candidate List, the SCIP database and the C&L Inventory.
- Economic operatorsThe supply-chain roles that carry product compliance duties. Manufacturer, importer and distributor each have different obligations, and under REACH the downstream user is a company that uses a substance or mixture in its own activity.
- EEEEquipment that depends on electric currents or electromagnetic fields to work, or that generates, transfers or measures them, rated up to 1000 V AC or 1500 V DC. It is the scope unit for RoHS and WEEE.
- ELVAn EU directive that restricts heavy metals in vehicles and sets reuse, recycling and recovery targets so that cars are designed for, and handled at, end of life.
- EN IEC 63000The harmonised standard that defines the technical documentation a manufacturer compiles to demonstrate a product meets RoHS, giving a presumption of conformity.
- Endocrine disruptorA substance that interferes with the hormone system. It can be listed as an SVHC on the grounds of equivalent concern, and examples include bisphenol A and some phthalates.
- EPAThe US federal agency for environmental protection. It runs the Toxic Substances Control Act and much of US chemicals and environmental law.
- ESPRAn EU framework regulation that lets the Commission set product-specific requirements on durability, reusability, repairability, recycled content, substances of concern, and the Digital Product Passport. It extends ecodesign beyond energy to almost all products.
- EU Declaration of ConformityA single document in which the manufacturer declares that a product meets all applicable EU legislation, naming the directives and regulations and the standards used. It underpins the CE marking.
- EU Mercury RegulationThe EU law that carries the Minamata Convention into European rules, restricting mercury in products and processes, controlling trade, phasing out dental amalgam uses and governing mercury waste.
- EUDREU regulation that requires certain commodities and the products made from them, such as wood, rubber, soy, palm oil, coffee, cocoa and cattle, to be free from recent deforestation before they can be sold in the EU, backed by due diligence and geolocation data.
- ExemptionA time-limited permission to use a restricted substance in a specific application where no good substitute exists yet. RoHS lists its exemptions in Annex III and Annex IV, each with an expiry date that has to be renewed.
F
- F-Gas RegulationEU law that phases down fluorinated greenhouse gases, mainly the HFCs used as refrigerants and in foams and aerosols. A falling quota and time-based equipment bans drive the reduction. It replaces the earlier Regulation 517/2014.
- FMDA declaration that lists every substance in a part down to the homogeneous material level. It is the most complete and reusable form of material disclosure.
G
- GADSLThe automotive industry's shared list of substances that must be declared in vehicle parts. It plays the same role for cars that the IEC 62474 list plays for electronics.
- GHS pictogramsThe nine GHS hazard pictograms, each a red-bordered diamond, with its code, the symbol it shows, and the hazard it signals.
- GHSA United Nations system that standardises how chemical hazards are classified and labelled worldwide, using shared hazard classes, pictograms and statements. The EU puts it into law as the CLP Regulation.
H
- Halogen-freeA voluntary specification for electronics, where bromine and chlorine are kept below set thresholds, driven by concerns about brominated flame retardants.
- Hazard labellingHow chemical hazards are communicated on a label: red-bordered pictograms, a signal word, hazard statements that describe the danger, and precautionary statements that say how to handle it. The rules come from CLP and GHS.
- HBCDDA brominated flame retardant once used in polystyrene insulation foam, now banned as a persistent organic pollutant and listed for REACH authorisation.
- Homogeneous materialThe smallest unit of material that cannot be mechanically separated into different materials. It is the level at which RoHS concentration limits actually apply.
- How it connectsA visual map of how international treaties, EU regulations, and data standards fit together, and how substance data flows from a supplier all the way to a CE mark.
I
- IAEGA group of aerospace manufacturers and suppliers that maintains the Aerospace and Defence Declarable Substance List and shared guidance for material declarations in aerospace.
- IEC 62321The international standard for the lab methods used to actually measure how much of a restricted substance is in an electrotechnical product, the test side of RoHS compliance.
- IEC 62474An international standard that defines both a data-exchange format for material declarations and a maintained reference database of declarable substances for the electrotechnical industry.
- IEC 82474-1A cross-sector, dual-logo ISO/IEC standard for material declaration, broadening the IEC 62474 approach to data exchange and declarable substances to products of any industry. Part 1 sets out the general requirements.
- IECThe global standards body for electrical, electronic and related technologies. It publishes the IEC 62474, IEC 62321 and IEC 63000 standards that sit behind electronics compliance.
- IEC/TC 111The IEC technical committee responsible for environmental standards for electrical and electronic products and systems. Its work includes the material-declaration standard IEC 62474.
- IMDSThe automotive industry's central database for reporting the material composition of parts, where suppliers submit Material Data Sheets up the chain so carmakers can meet ELV, REACH and their own substance rules.
- IPC-1752AAn IPC standard defining a standardized XML format for exchanging material and substance composition data between supply-chain partners in the electronics industry.
- IPC-1754An IPC standard that extends structured material and substance declaration beyond electronics to complex articles and assemblies, built for aerospace, defense and other hardware-heavy supply chains.
- IPCThe global electronics-manufacturing trade association behind the IPC-175x family of material-declaration data-exchange standards.
- ISOThe global standards body for almost everything outside the purely electrical domain. It partners with the IEC on joint material-declaration work like IEC/ISO 82474-1.
J
- J-MOSSJapan's marking standard for the presence of specified chemical substances in electronics, covering the same six substances as the original RoHS and signalling content through a green or orange mark.
- JIG-101The electronics industry's original shared declarable-substance guide, now retired and superseded by the IEC 62474 declarable substance list.
K
L
M
- Material DeclarationThe umbrella practice of reporting what substances and materials a product contains, so the supply chain can prove compliance. Depth ranges from a simple supplier statement up to a full breakdown.
- MercuryA toxic heavy metal restricted under RoHS at 0.1 percent and under ELV, and controlled worldwide by the Minamata Convention and the EU Mercury Regulation.
- Minamata ConventionA global treaty that phases down mercury use, trade and emissions and bans mercury in many products, with the EU Mercury Regulation carrying it into European law.
- MixtureTwo or more substances combined but not chemically reacted, such as paint, ink, solder paste or adhesive.
N
O
- Only RepresentativeUnder REACH a manufacturer based outside the EU can appoint an EU-based Only Representative to take over the registration duties that would otherwise fall on EU importers, covering the importers along the chain.
- Open scopeA way of defining a rule's reach. Under open scope RoHS covers all electrical and electronic equipment unless a category is explicitly excluded, rather than listing only the categories that are included.
- Ozone RegulationEU law that controls ozone-depleting substances such as CFCs, HCFCs and halons, turning the Montreal Protocol into European rules. It bans or limits their production, trade and use.
P
- Prop 65A California law that requires a clear warning on products that can expose people to listed chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm, enforced largely through private lawsuits.
- PBT / vPvBPBT means persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic. vPvB means very persistent and very bioaccumulative. These criteria flag substances that last in the environment and build up in living things.
- PFASA class of thousands of extremely persistent synthetic chemicals, nicknamed the 'forever chemicals', now facing a broad proposed EU-wide restriction alongside existing POP and REACH controls.
- PhthalatesFour plasticisers added to RoHS in 2015, each restricted at 0.1 percent per homogeneous material, also listed under REACH as substances of very high concern.
- Placing on the marketThe first time a product is made available on the EU market. It is the moment most compliance duties take effect, and it fixes which version of the rules applies to that product.
- PBBA family of brominated flame retardants restricted under RoHS at 0.1 percent and now largely phased out of use.
- PBDEA family of brominated flame retardants restricted under RoHS at 0.1 percent, with DecaBDE additionally controlled under the POP Regulation and REACH Annex XVII.
- POPAn EU regulation that bans or severely restricts persistent organic pollutants, toxic chemicals that resist degradation and accumulate in the environment and food chain.
- PPWREU regulation on packaging and packaging waste. It limits heavy metals in packaging, sets recycled-content and recyclability requirements, and pushes packaging reduction. It replaces the older Packaging Directive.
- Product ComplianceThe umbrella term for everything a product must satisfy before it can be sold, covering legal rules and customer requirements, of which chemical compliance is one part.
R
- REACH AnnexesA searchable view of the full REACH Annex XIV (Authorisation List, 59 entries) and Annex XVII (Restriction List, 79 numbered entries), the two annexes that actually ban or gate substances.
- REACHThe EU's overarching chemicals regulation, requiring registration of substances and managing risk through the SVHC Candidate List, authorisation and restriction.
- Recycled contentThe share of a product made from recycled material instead of virgin material. EU rules increasingly set minimum recycled-content levels, including in the Battery Regulation, the Ecodesign Regulation and packaging rules.
- RestrictionA REACH restriction, listed in Annex XVII, bans or limits a substance for certain uses directly, with no application process. The limit simply applies.
- RISLThe rail industry's shared list of substances to declare in railway products. It is the sector-specific counterpart to GADSL in automotive and the IEC 62474 list in electronics.
- RMIAn industry initiative that maintains the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template, the Extended Minerals Reporting Template for cobalt and mica, and a smelter assessment programme. Companies use its templates to collect origin and smelter data through the supply chain.
- RoHS comparisonA side-by-side look at the main RoHS-type regimes, covering the substances they restrict, their thresholds, and how conformity is shown.
- RoHS exemptionsA searchable view of the full set of RoHS exemptions from Annex III and Annex IV, the specific uses where a restricted substance is temporarily permitted.
- RoHS limitsThe ten substances restricted under RoHS and the maximum concentration of each permitted by weight in any homogeneous material.
- RoHSAn EU directive that restricts ten hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, enforced through CE marking and a Declaration of Conformity.
- Rotterdam ConventionA global treaty that runs a Prior Informed Consent procedure for trading certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides, requiring an importing country to agree before a listed chemical can be shipped to it.
S
- SCCP / MCCPChlorinated paraffins used as flame retardants and plasticisers, where the short-chain type is banned as a persistent organic pollutant and the medium-chain type is on the REACH Candidate List.
- SiloxanesThe cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes D4, D5 and D6. They are persistent and bioaccumulative, sit on the REACH Candidate List, and face restrictions in wash-off cosmetics under Annex XVII.
- Safety Data SheetA 16-section document, with a format set by REACH, giving hazard, handling and safe-use information for a substance or mixture. It covers substances and mixtures, not articles.
- SCIPAn ECHA database that collects information on Candidate List SVHCs in articles, so the data reaches waste operators and consumers across a product's whole life cycle.
- Stockholm ConventionThe global treaty to eliminate or restrict persistent organic pollutants, and the international basis that the EU POP Regulation implements in European law.
- SubstanceA chemical element or compound under REACH, including its additives and impurities, and the base unit that gets registered.
- Substance ListA maintained list of substances that are restricted, banned, or must be declared. It is the reference a material declaration is checked against.
- SVHCUnder REACH, a substance with serious effects on human health or the environment. SVHCs are placed on the Candidate List and trigger communication and notification duties.
T
- Technical documentationThe evidence a manufacturer compiles and keeps to show a product meets the rules. For RoHS it is built to EN IEC 63000 and usually kept for about ten years.
- TBBPAThe most widely used brominated flame retardant, mostly reacted into printed circuit board laminates and now on the REACH Candidate List as a carcinogen.
- TSCAThe main US law governing industrial chemicals, run by the EPA, covering an inventory of existing substances, notice for new ones, and powers to restrict high-risk chemicals.
U
- UK REACHThe chemicals regime for Great Britain after Brexit, mirroring EU REACH but run separately by the Health and Safety Executive.
- UK RoHSGreat Britain's RoHS after Brexit, restricting the same substances as EU RoHS and marked with UKCA.
- UNECEA United Nations regional commission. It hosts the air-pollution convention and its Aarhus Protocol, and develops the Globally Harmonised System for classifying and labelling chemicals.
- UNEPThe United Nations body for the environment. It hosts several of the global chemical and waste treaties that the EU then puts into its own law.
- UVCBA substance of Unknown or Variable composition, Complex reaction products, or Biological materials, which cannot be pinned down by a single formula or CAS number.
V
W
- WEEEThe EU directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment. It sets collection, recovery and recycling targets, makes producers responsible for end-of-life handling, requires producer registration, and introduces the crossed-out wheelie-bin symbol.
- WFDThe EU's framework law for waste, built around the waste hierarchy and, since the 2018/851 amendment, the legal basis for the SCIP database obligation.
X
Z
- ZDHC MRSLThe textile and footwear industry's substance lists from the ZDHC programme. The MRSL bans chemicals from the production process, while the RSL sets limits for substances in the finished article.
- ZVEIThe German electrical and electronics industry association. It is an active source of practical guidance on RoHS, REACH and material-declaration practice.