As one statutory regulation prescribed by the European Union (EU), the "Restriction of the Use of the Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive" (simply referred to as RoHS) has been enforced by EU member states since July 2006. RoHS Directive prohibits the use of hazardous chemical substances in computers, communication devices, home appliances, and so on. It is intended to minimize the environmental load of a product during its "life cycle"—that is, from production to disposal. Manufactured products that do not conform to RoHS Directive cannot be sold in the EU. It targets six kinds of hazardous chemical substances: lead, hexavalent chromium, mercury, cadmium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE).
