RoHS stands for Restriction of Hazardous Substances. It is a directive created by the European Union to reduce the harmful effects of dangerous substances to people and the environment. The directive restricts the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. RoHS compliance is a product level compliance based on the European Unions Directive 2002/95/EC. The RoHS directive lists the following RoHS-regulated substances: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB, PBDE, DEHP, BBP, DBP, and DIBP. The directive defines the limit values for the proportion of these substances in all homogeneous materials for electrical and electronic equipment. Accordingly, no materials may be used that have a greater proportion than 0.1 percent by weight of each of the substances mentioned (cadmium: 0.01 percent by weight) . RoHS helps reduce damage to people and the environment in third-world countries where much of todays "high-tech waste" ends up. The use of lead-free solders and components reduces risks to electronics industry workers in prototype and manufacturing operations. RoHS 2, or the Recast RoHS 2 Directive 2011/65/EU, was published in July 2011 by the European Commission. The scope of the original RoHS was expanded to cover all electrical/electronic equipment, cables, and spare parts with compliance required by July 22, 2019 or sooner depending on product category. RoHS 3 added four phthalates to the list of restricted substances. RoHS compliance can be difficult to fully comprehend and is generally inconvenient and expensive even at the governmental level. However, RoHS was introduced to improve the welfare of consumers, distributors, manufacturers, and the environment.