Use of helium cadmium lasers in Raman spectroscopy

Overview

The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2012 (RoHS regulations) restricts the use of 10 hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), with a view to contributing to the protection of human health and the environment, including the sound recovery and disposal of waste.

Industry can apply for exemptions to allow the supply of products using one or more of the restricted substances above the threshold limits set down in the RoHS regulations where specified criteria are met. Applications for exemptions are made to the Secretary of State under regulation 6 of the Hazardous Substances and Packaging (Legislative Functions and Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (2020 regulations). Any exemption that is granted can be used across industry, not just by the business that applied for the exemption. Exemptions are granted where it is determined that the necessary criteria have been met following a detailed evaluation conducted in accordance with regulation 5 of the 2020 regulations.

Following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the function of granting, renewing and revoking exemptions were, in relation to Great Britain, transferred to the Secretary of State by the 2020 regulations, using powers in section 8 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (Withdrawal Act).

Part of the evaluation process is an 8-week consultation to collect contributions from stakeholders.

A request for renewal for an exemption was submitted on 19 January 2023 for the use of helium-cadmium lasers in Raman applications. The requested exemption will be applied in monitoring and control instruments in industry. These lasers are used in Raman spectroscopy which is a widely used analytical method for precise measurement of the chemical structure, phase and polymorphy, crystallinity and molecular interactions. The laser requires the cadmium in order to emit the laser at a certain wavelength, 325 nanometres (nm) for Raman spectroscopy.

The requested duration of the exemption is for 7 years and according to the application it would be expected to lead to the introduction of 200g of cadmium to the Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) market annually. The applicant states that elimination or substitution of cadmium maintaining the current technical performance is currently scientifically or technically impracticable.

The exemption covers monitoring and control instruments in industry under category 9 (industrial) of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), as covered in the 2012 RoHS regulations.