About Common Environmental Specifications Applicable to Tubing

This is a law passed by the European Union Parliament that pertains to recycling of motor vehicles. The part that applies to Grayline is that after 7/1/03, new motor vehicles can not be sold in the EU that contain lead, mercury, cadmium or hexavalent chromium except for a few specifically defined applications which do not include tubing. Since vehicles produced in the US are also sold in Europe, the US manufactures have in most cases applied the same rules to vehicles manufactured here. All tubing sold by Grayline conforms to this directive except for some specialty colors which contain lead.

European law that restricts the use of hazardous substances in electronic equipment. This law was passed along with another mandating recycling of electronic equipment. As of 7/1/06, new electronic equipment can not be sold in the EU if it contains lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers except for a few specifically defined applications which do not include tubing. Electrical equipment is defined as anything that uses electricity to work. All tubing sold by Grayline conforms to this directive except for some specialty colors and NHS heat shrink tubing which contain lead.

2000/95/EC was amended on 10/13/05 to allow DecaBDE in polymeric applications. On 7/1/08, the DecaBDE exemption was annulled.

European wide regulation that requires that all chemicals used in the EU be registered, evaluated and authorized for specific uses. Grayline makes “articles” under this law and is not currently required to register any substances.

The law provides for the inclusion of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) into Annex XIV. Once a substance is included in Annex XIV, they cannot be placed on the market or used in the EU after a “sunset date” unless a company is granted an authorization.

Before SVHC's are included into Annex XIV, they are placed on a "SVHC candidate list". They then undergo a prioritization process.

Substances on the candidate list must be reported to users in the EU. As of December, 2012, there are 138 substances listed on the candidate list. DEHP or Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, a common phthalate plasticizer, is the only substance on the candidate list which is used in some of Grayline’s PVC tubing. See Grayline’s REACH policy for more details.

In 1986, California passed a law (proposition 65). This law requires companies that sell products in California to provide a “clear and reasonable” warning before knowingly and intentionally exposing anyone to a chemical that’s on a special CA Prop 65 List of chemicals that the state has determined to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. This list includes the following substances which are used in some of our tubing: lead, antimony trioxide, carbon black, some phthalate plasticizers and vinyl chloride. We have a section on our Material Safety Data Sheets that address this law.