The European Union’s RoHS regulations target all kinds of components used in electronic products. And amidst all the circuit boards, capacitors, and wires, it’s all to easy to forget that mechanical fasteners have potential compliance issues. The reason why comes down to the myriad of platings and surface treatments used on today’s fasteners. Only a small portion of these have environmental implications that run afoul of RoHS, which bans lead and other heavy metals among other substances. One manufacturer has recently take steps to clear up any confusion related to the compliance of its fasteners. PennEngineering Fastening Technologies, which gets a big chunk of its business from electronics assembly, has launched a on-line lookup tool that returns compliance information on specific fastener-and-plating combinations with just two--count them, “two”--mouse clicks. To access the RoHS Lookup Tool, go to http://www.pennfast.com/design_info/RoHS_Compliance.php