01 Hazardous use and substitution trends

The general term for physical substances, chemical toxins, and biological substances. Hazardous substances in vehicle materials mainly refer to substances listed in laws and regulations that are prohibited, restricted, and reduced in use as required by customers, as well as any substances that endanger human health or environmental safety.

01 lead

The nervous system, hematopoietic system and organs all have toxic effects. After the car is scrapped, the lead in the parts easily enters the air in the form of vapor or particles, or enters the water and soil with rainwater after electrochemical corrosion.

When people breathe lead-contaminated air or eat lead-containing foods, lead flows into the brain tissue with the blood, accumulating and damaging the cerebellum and cerebral cortex cells, at the same time, it damages the kidneys, inhibits the activity of many enzymes in the process of heme synthesis, and affects the activity of many enzymes in the process of heme synthesis. Reproductive function, etc.

However, due to technical and economic reasons, lead is still widely used in automotive materials, such as wheel balance weights, instrument pointer balance sheets, fuel pump lead seals and other components.

02 Mercury

Mercury is a highly toxic element, which is easy to cause neurotoxicity and deep tissue disease, showing symptoms such as obvious memory loss, inattention, and general fatigue.

Vehicle materials use mercury vapor to conduct electricity and radiate high-frequency electromagnetic waves to make phosphors emit light. The mercury-containing parts mainly include lighting lamps, fluorescent lamps, liquid crystal displays, and headlights for navigation in combination meters.

03 Cadmium

Cadmium is one of the most harmful elements that threaten human health. It can enter the human body through food, water or inhaled particles to form cadmium-sulfur protein, reach the whole body through the blood, damage human organs, hinder the growth and metabolism of bones, and cause loose bones. , Shrinkage, deformation, etc.

Due to the high replacement cost, cadmium-containing parts/materials in automobiles mainly include nickel-cadmium batteries, pigments, cadmium stearate stabilizers, and cadmium-magnesium vulcanizing agents.

04 hexavalent chromium

Hexavalent chromium is carcinogenic and can induce genetic mutations. Long-term intake of hexavalent chromium can cause various inflammations, induce squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, lung cancer and other diseases; in severe cases, the circulatory system will fail and cause death.

Due to process and cost reasons, hexavalent chromium is still widely used in automotive materials, such as antifreeze, industrial coloring and so on.

05 Polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers

Studies have shown that PBBs/PBDEs have hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity, reproductive toxicity and developmental toxicity. At the same time, they release free radicals at high temperature and block the combustion reaction. Therefore, they are added to composite materials during product manufacturing to improve the fire resistance of the product. . In actual production, it is often added to polymer materials such as automotive plastics, rubber, and carpets.

06 Asbestos

The asbestos fine fiber is easy to cause lung cancer and other diseases in the process of manufacturing and use, but it has good tensile strength, heat insulation and corrosion resistance, is not easy to burn, and is low in price. It is mainly used in brake pads, clutches, gaskets and seals. Article etc.

In response to the above substances, with the development of the automotive industry and basic materials, the following progress has been made in the reduction of harmful substances in automotive materials and alternative technologies.

02 Control Strategy

Automobile companies are facing increasing pressure from stricter regulatory requirements and human environmental protection needs. They urgently need to establish a sound control system for hazardous substances in automotive materials to achieve green design, green procurement, green manufacturing and green consumption, and to reduce the overall life cycle of automotive products. Environmental load.

Establish a management and control organization and develop an implementation plan

Due to the complexity and systemic nature of hazardous substances control, involving product design, production, procurement, and sales, all departments of the company are required to participate and pay attention. Generally, a special control organization is composed of design and development, quality management, procurement, manufacturing, regulatory certification and other departments, and is attended by personnel familiar with relevant standards and regulations.

Through understanding customers and regulatory requirements, combined with preliminary product surveys, a list of hazardous substances is formed, and the implementation plan of the company's internal vehicle materials for hazardous substances is completed.

At the same time, the company conducts professional training for relevant personnel, raises awareness of hazardous substances regulations, clarifies their respective responsibilities and authorities, makes full use of the supervision and assessment mechanism in the management system documents, and resolutely implements and implements them, so that the subsequent implementation of the regulatory response can be carried out smoothly.

Improve process control documents to achieve production consistency control

Without effective management system integration, it is impossible to ensure consistent production of products, so it is necessary to establish and improve process control documents.

The preparation of this document should be combined with the company’s quality management system, especially with ISO, 14001 environmental management procedures. It mainly includes product regulations and standards and customer requirements, product design management and design change management, procurement management, logistics and manufacturing Process management, product identification and traceability of non-conforming products, etc.

Through the establishment of process documents, it is ensured that vehicle companies do not use hazardous substances in design, manufacturing, and supply chain, thereby improving production consistency control and reducing the risk of hazardous substances exceeding the standard.

Promote ecological design and strengthen the research and application of green technology

Actively promote ecological design, standardize the classification of vehicle materials from the source and determine the principles of recycling and reuse, build a list of green materials, and prioritize the use of high resource utilization, low energy consumption and low pollutant production, and technologies that are conducive to recycling And craftsmanship.

Strengthen the research and application of harmful substances reduction and substitution technology of automotive materials to meet the increasingly stringent requirements of environmental protection regulations and reduce the pressure on resources and the environment of automotive products at all stages of the entire life cycle.