RoHS That European effort to reduce hazardous substances in products of the electronics industry. No lead solder is one of the targeted substances. A good solid enviornmentally sound idea, right?
Ok, now try to follow the obscure connections I suggest on Iran and this Stuxnet “virus”. Europe is closer to Iran. When I was in Europe it did appear that computing equipment took longer to become standard. This may of course have changed but also consider the US “rollout” of DRM(digital rights management). See where I am going?
Ok, how does one dispose of a whole bunch of Pentium motherboards which don’t have the secret NSA back door connection built into the processor support chip set. Well, you can’t use those because they have lead solder.
Next question. Does lead in electronic solder leach into the enviornment? How many deaths are attributed to this particular problem. I think it was England that first reported on fish being sterile from birth control in the wastewater stream. Was it worth the effort to single out lead despite the electronic industry requirement to use the most toxic things we have ever created in the complex multi-step process from sand to I-Pad. Let’s take Gallium arsenide for example.
http://www.nd.edu/~exafs/msds/…
Last thought. RoHS in the industry is still a big deal. You have to “certify” compliance to devices which might be going to the EU by cutting down a tree to make the multi colored RoHS compliant sticker on the plastic bag which goes to the stockroom down the hall. That baggie will get thrown away in the States and it’s only one of thousands of steps. Because it’
s the lawone must comply. See next two links.
http://www.deliberatedumbingdo…
http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fou…