Robert said:
["Followup-To:" header set to sci.electronics.design.]
That certainly seems to apply to the more inexplicable exceptions (lead
is allowed in servers, storage devices, and network infrastructure devices).
This is plenty explicable. The manufacturers of this equipment
claim (with some validity) that there isn't much known about the
long-term stability of the lead-free stuff, and since companies
and governments and whatnot rely on reliable IT infrastructure
they can't run the risk of switching over to a new technology.
robert
What about the rest of us that make electronics designed to last for
decades? I fully understand the desire to remove lead from throw-away
electronics, of which there is more and more these days. But there is a
lot electronics produced that is a lot harder to replace than a network
switch, or with greater consequences of failure than a typical server.
A far more practical arrangement than a blanket ban on lead, except for
groups with loud lobbyists, would have been a tax on lead-containing
electronics along with obligatory marking of such cards. The tax would
start small, and increase over the years, and be used to finance
recycling plants. Then mass manufacturers would use lead-free to save
their profits, while smaller and specialist manufacturers could choose.
