Holly Lynch (hlynch@SAYER.COM)
Wed, 22 Oct 1997 16:44:17 -0400

Dear ComplianceNetters:

The California Air Resources Board has drafted a printed circuit board manufacturing guide for its inspectors.
The guide is intended to "assist local air pollution control district inspectors in conducting complete,
consistent, and efficient inspections." It is also designed to help industrial operators understand what is
required of them and how compliance is determined.

In the section marked "Toxics," the manual lists various hazardous air pollutants used by the PWB industry.
The list includes:

1,1,1,-Trichloroethane
Hydrofluoric Acid
Methylene Chloride
Toluene
Xylene

The Air Board has heard from some California PWB shops that these chemicals are no longer used by PWB manufacturers.
Is that true? What is the status of these chemicals in the PWB industry?

Thank you very much in advance for your help with this issue.

Sincerely,

Holly Evans Director of Environmental and Safety Programs, IPC
1400 Eye St., N.W., Suite 540
Washington, D.C. 20005-2208
ph: 202-638-6219
fx: 202-638-0145

Holly,

Apparently the CARB is using the same old, trite history book that Booz Allen used when EPA contracted
with them to prepare a PWB sectors notebook. We got EPA on the same sheet of music about 2 years ago,
but the history page is still around. None of our facilities use the chemicals listed, except as a trace
chemical in some raw materials. I would urge CARB to contact the Bay Area Air Quality Management District
(BAAQMD) to get a current profile of the PWB industry. BAAQMD worked with several area PWB producers to
develop a thorough overview of PWB emissions. Their 1/10/97 draft document "Printed Circuit Board
Manufacturing Operations" contains extensive process and emission descriptions of virtually all
PWB source points.

Lee Wilmot

HYPERLINK mailto:lwilmot@hadco.com

I agree with Lee. The listed chemicals are usually minor ingredients to proprietary chemicals.
Thanks,

Lucy Servidio, Capaccio Environmental Engineering, Inc.