Submissions to OEKO Institut Confirm Key Points Related to Renewal of RoHS Exemption for Cadmium Selenide-Based Quantum Dots

LEXINGTON, Massachusetts, February 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The submissions to the OEKO Institut's public consultation have confirmed key points related to the renewal of the RoHS exemption for cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots (QDs). The exemption would allow European consumers to benefit from better colour performance and energy-savings in displays. The information and factual support submitted by stakeholders lead to some important conclusions:

• Energy savings achieved from displays using CdSe QDs result in significantly lower cadmium emissions than any potential alternative. The use of CdSe QDs actually results in a net reduction in the amount of free cadmium in the environment. In fact, because of the comparative energy savings of CdSe QDs, the 1.5mg of cadmium in a typical CdSe QD-based display results in 26mg of free cadmium not being released into the environment. Third party submissions from both sides confirm this result or reach similar conclusions.

• CdSe poses little risk and the CdSe QDs at issue here are encased in a fully protective coating resulting in a solution that is at the same time not bioavailable as used.

• CdSe reclamation poses no new risk to workers. Claims made to the contrary in relation to potential recycling hazards lack evidential support. Separate life-cycle analyses (LCA) submitted by 3M and QD Vision demonstrate unequivocally that the risk linked to cadmium recycling is less than the standard risk of running a metal recycling operation. Umicore, the largest recycler in the world, has attested that QD Vision CdSe QD-based optics can be safely recycled.

• Besides CdSe QDs, the only other QDs in the television market are made from indium phosphide (InP), which is a class 1B carcinogen.  No new information was submitted to rebut this. ChemSec concedes on its website that it considers InP a "regrettable substitute" for cadmium.

• Disallowing CdSe QDs would deprive European consumers of affordable, energy-efficient, wider colour gamut televisions and monitors, prevent consumer choice, and preclude market competition. More specifically: