Hazardous free cable technology

The importance of eliminating additional hazardous substances from cables began in Europe and followed in Asia. Today, international regulations and directives are in the process of eliminating harmful substancesAmong such regulations are RoHS, the Restriction of Hazardous Substances, which requires manufacturers, distributors and sellers to comply with eliminating certain hazardous substances from New Electrical and Electronic equipment by July 1, 2006. The removal must be of lead, cadmium, mercury, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and Hexavalent Chromiun.

Too, WEEE, Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment, requires that manufacturers, distributors and sellers of specific appliances and electrical equipment provide recycling and disposal facilities for their products as of August 13, 2005.

In North America, the removal of products with hazardous substances is growing rapidly. The RoHS Directive is in the process of becoming a law in states like California, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut. There has been a delay in North America for several reasons. In manufacture, there are higher costs for raw materials used in compliant cables. The greatest obstacle for compound suppliers was in meeting long term wet insulation resistance testing under UL Standard 83. At this point, the first North American company to offer standard cables free of hazardous or harmful substances is Lapp USA. Its Olflex Tray II and VFD hazardous free cables are the first that have met the UL requirement. To learn about the offerings, visit www.lappusa.com.