Control of Chemical Substances

Basic Concept

ESPEC has designated restricted substances and reduced the amounts of their use in the designs of our products. We are working to prevent environmental pollution through control of hazardous chemicals used in our business activities and through green procurement.

EU-RoHS Directive

For the 6 hazardous chemicals in the EU-RoHS directive, we have steadily been voluntarily shifting to providing EU-RoHS compliant products beginning from 2013. In addition, we have also completed measures for compliance of EU-bound products regarding the 10 substances for which restrictions in the EU-RoHS directive were tightened in July 2021. We also eliminated all products containing mercury during FY 2020 in order to comply with the Convention on Mercury.

Compliance with Asbestos Regulations

Components containing asbestos used to be used for insulation and packing materials in certain products in the past. We stopped using components containing asbestos in all of our products by the end of June 2006.
For customers who use products they have purchased prior to that, we proactively disclose information on asbestos in these products on our website or on a case-by case basis.

Compliance with PRTR Laws (Pollutant Release and Transfer Register)

ESPEC uses several hundred types of hazardous chemicals (designated based on our company’s standards). For these chemicals, we distribute SDS^*, create procedures for their use and storage, promote the change to safer chemicals, and take other steps for appropriate control. ESPEC eliminated the use of the PRTR target substance 1-bromopropane in FY 2019, and because the total amount handled annually is less than 1 t, we are not required to submit notification to the government.

* Safety Data Sheets. This is a document that contains necessary information for safe use and handling of a chemical substance.

■FY 2022 PRTR results

Calculation range: ESPEC CORP., ESPEC Test System Corporation, ESPEC Assist Corporation, ESPEC MIC Corporation,and ESPEC THERMAL TECH SYSTEM CORP.

REACH Regulation

REACH is a regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals in the EU, aiming to “provide protection of human health and the environment, allow free movement of chemical substances on the EU market, and enhance the competitiveness and innovation of the EU chemical industry.” It entered into force on June 1, 2007.

The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) identifies Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) that may have hazardous effects on human health and the environment as Candidate List substances. If substances, mixtures, or articles containing SVHC in a concentration above 0.1% by weight are produced in or imported into the EU, their suppliers are obliged to provide downstream users and (if it is requested) consumers with sufficient information on them.

Information on the SVHC contained in ESPEC products

The table below shows the SVHC that have been identified in our products so far. Our investigation of the SVHC content in our products is ongoing, and we update the table content as new information is confirmed.

Information on safe use of products containing SVHC

The SVHC included in the table are all contained in the components inside the products.
As they are not exposed or emitted during normal use, there is no need to take special measures while using the product.