Posted on Tue, Jan 17, 2012
We are thrilled to announce our latest infographic, “Conflict Minerals 3TG”. This infographic captivates its reader through illustrating the atrocities that are occurring within the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It begins with a brief definition of what a Conflict Mineral is, followed up with the worldwide production of 3TG’s (Tungsten, Tin, Tantalum, and Gold).
The most compelling section of the infographic is the amount of money that is estimated to be funding the armed conflict within the DRC and is followed up with a list of other countries that are suspected of being involved in the trade of minerals from within the DRC. We hope that you find it informative. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions related to this infographic.
View the Conflict Minerals infographic.
Posted on Tue, Jan 03, 2012
As we reported last month, ECHA has added 20 new substances to the SVHC Candidate List bringing the total to 73. We have updated our REACH documentation for our Ceramic Chip Capacitors and Chip Resistors to reflect this change. Please find our new REACH documentation on our REACH page.
Posted on Fri, Dec 23, 2011
Venkel Ltd. will be closed from December 26th through January 2nd for the holidays. We will be opened for normal business hours on January 3rd. Happy Holidays from everyone at Venkel!
Posted on Tue, Dec 20, 2011
ECHA has officially added 20 new substances to their Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). This brings the total number of chemicals listed to 73. Of the 20 new substances approved, 4-tert-octyl phenol is the first to be included due to its endocrine disrupting properties. This chemical is significant as it broadens the type of hazardous chemicals that ECHA is currently regulating.
Producers of the chemicals listed are required to notify ECHA by June 19, 2012 if any of the listed substances are present in quantities produced over 1 ton in a calendar year or the substance is present above a concentration of 0.1% weight by weight. Notification exemptions are applied if the substance is already registered for use or if exposure can be excluded.
Venkel Ltd. will be releasing an updated REACH statement for our Ceramic Chip Capacitors and Chip Resistors in the coming days to reflect the new substances added to the SVHC list. Please find our REACH statement on our REACH page. Please watch our Newsroom in the coming days as we will announce when these documents will be publicly released.
For more information on the new SVHCs please visit:
ECHA Press Release
Circuits Assembly Blog
Posted on Wed, Dec 07, 2011
Has RoHS led to an overall increase in electronic failures in industrial settings? The ISA (International Society of Automation) seems to think so. In an article released last month, the ISA reported that printed circuit boards with lead-free material have had an increase in corrosion over their lead/tin counterparts. This has resulted in the ISA having to revamp its reactivity monitoring process to ensure a more thorough environmental assessment. The research, done by companies such as IBM and HP and organizations such as IPC, found that copper-only reactivity monitoring which is used in current testing is not accurately measuring the reactivity level of the environment for RoHS compliant electronic equipment.
As a result, the ISA has decided to measure the copper and silver reactivity levels and make an assessment based on the higher of the two. The ISA71 committee has already begun to drawn up a plan to implement the new standards as well as addressing a few others. We hope that these new standards will increase the life of industrial applications of printed circuit boards.
Official ISA Release
InTech Article
Posted on Thu, Dec 01, 2011
We have added 2 new updates to our Surface Mount Components Catalog. These updates include 2 new additions to our Ceramic Chip Capacitor line.
- 0.01uF for our 0603 size, 25V, NP0/C0G Chip Capacitor series
- 10uF for our 0402 size, 6.3V, X5R Chip Capacitor series
You can find these on pages 8 and 10 of our Surface Mount Components Catalog.
Posted on Wed, Nov 23, 2011
We will be closed on Thursday November 24th and Friday November 25th in observance of Thanksgiving. We will be back on Monday November 28th and will be operating at normal business hours. Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Venkel!
Posted on Mon, Nov 21, 2011
We're pleased to be able to announce the availability of two Ceramic Capacitors in a 1210 size, extending our line of Surface Mount Chip Capacitors.
- 10uF, 1210, X7R dielectric, 50V, ±20% tolerance (Venkel P/N C1210X7R500-106MNE)
- 22uF, 1210, X7R dielectric, 25V, ±20% tolerance (Venkel P/N C1210X7R250-226MNE)
The capacitor values were previously only available in the X5R dielectric and only up to 25V. You can find both of these parts in our catalog.
Request a Quote or Free Samples.
Posted on Thu, Nov 17, 2011
Just when we thought that we had seen the last REACH substance proposal news for the year, ECHA recently released a proposal of 91 (ninety-one in case you thought it was a typo) new substances to the Member States as part of ECHA's Communication Rolling Action Plan (CoRAP). However these 91 new substances won't all be rolling out at once. The plan is for them to be divided for REACH evaluation over the course of 3 years. That is 36 substances in 2012, 24 in 2013, and 31 in 2014 and the list still needs to be reviewed by the Member States. You can find the statement on ECHA's website or simply view the draft PDF along with the list of substances, CAS- and EC-numbers.
The first draft CoRAP had originally been requested to be submitted to Member States by the December 1, 2011; however the first draft was submitted in October. The ECHA Member State Committee is scheduled to release their opinion in February 2012. This is still in the early stages of the process of getting substances approved; however ECHA has given Member States one year to evaluate substances for 2012. We will see how soon the 2012 substances are officially added.
For more information, please visit the ECHA website.
Posted on Tue, Nov 15, 2011
It seems that cities across the United States are starting to take action to ensure that they are not helping to fund the wars in Central Africa. St. Petersburg, FL, has become the second city in the United States to pass a resolution to ban Conflict Minerals from being present in their future technology purchases. In April, Pittsburgh, PA, was the first city to implement this type of rule. This means that technology companies that are willing to bid on contracts with the city will have to prove that their products are free of Conflict Minerals.
On October 9, 2011 the State of California signed into law their version of a Conflict Minerals ban. California’s law is similar to the St. Petersburg’s law in that contracts made with companies whose supply chain contains these minerals are prohibited. Furthermore, existing contracts with companies that continue to contain Conflict Minerals will be terminated. The state is considered by many to be the eighth largest economy in the world, and a ban on these minerals could deal a significant blow to the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by reducing funding. With companies already trying to conform to the Dodd-Frank Act, California and the two cities passing resolutions may not have much to worry about.
Sources:
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Pittsburg: First City Committed to Conflict-Free for Congo
Conflict-Free: A Growing Movement
Venkel Ltd offers Conflict Mineral Free Chip Capacitors and Chip Resistors. To see our Conflict Minerals statement, please visit our Conflict Minerals page.
