I've just received the August IPC Review. On p. 6, there is an article, "Lead Time on Lead Free Dwindles". This re-states the deadline of 1 July 2006 for total lead-free soldering for products sold in Europe (ignoring the few named exceptions). On p. 4, there is an article, "IPC Quells Flames of Halogen-Free Issue", which claims, after study, that there is no reason not to use halogenated flame retardants, such as TBBPA. It is my understanding that the same EU directives require all laminates and plastics in electronics assemblies to use non-halogenated flame retardants, presumably from the same date (I have not checked this in the actual directives). Does this not reveal an extremely dichotomous polity on the part of the IPC? On the one hand, the IPC has gone hell-for-leather towards the lead-free goal, without an ounce of proven scientific reason. On the other hand, the IPC is opposing the halogen-free part of the same EU legislation, despite the fact that emissions of incinerated halogen-containing laminates may contain some highly hazardous and polluting substances, as shown by scientific studies. At the same time, it may lull exporters to the EU and members within the EU into a false sense of security into thinking that brominated flame retardants are here to stay, rather than be mandatorily substituted within a few years. I need clarification on this paradoxical dichotomy. Brian --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 -----------------------------------------------------