Are stainless steel fasteners EC ROHS compliant?
In stainless steel, chromium is in the metallic state, which is not hazardous. The chromium in the oxide layer of passivated stainless steel, is dichromium trioxide, which is a trivalent compound. The chromium banned by ROHS is hexavalent chromium. If your fasteners are plated, including 410 stainless with zinc plating, the ROHS compliance of the plating will need to be addressed with your sales person. From the regulation III – page 137-138 “..if stainless steel bolts and nuts are used as parts, they are not considered to meet the requirement of products specified by Article 5 of the enforcement regulations (ppIII-268). SO, establishments that purchase such parts and handle them as components of manufactured products do not have to make a notification.
