Advanced Micro Devices said Wednesday that the company has successfully removed lead from its microprocessors to meet European environmental regulations.
AMD said that in early July it began selling versions of its Opteron, Athlon 64, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64 FX, Sempron and Turion processor families that meet the lead-free RoHS regulations, about a year before the regulations go into effect.
Several chip sets, including the AMD-8111, AMD-8131, AMD-8132 and AMD-8151, also meet the EU restrictions.
The EUs Restriction of Hazardous Substances, here in PDF form, takes effect July 1, 2006, virtually eliminating the use of lead in electronic devices.
Under the EU law, non-exempt products must contain less than 0.1 percent of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB (polybrominated biphenyls) and PBDE (polybrominated diphenylethers) and less than 0.01 percent of chromium.
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PBBs and PBDEs are both found within flame retardant materials; PBBs have been banned in the U.S. since 1977, but PBDEs are unregulated inside the United States.
“The lead-free transition is now under way well in advance of regulatory deadlines,” said Reed Content, AMDs senior manager responsible for environmental health and safety, in an interview.
“Obviously our chief concern is making sure our customer needs are addressed from a safety and performance standpoint, and making sure this transition is executed in a timely manner.”
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