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Members of the European Parliament have voted against a proposed extension of an exemption to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) which would have allowed the use of cadmium-containing quantum dots in Europe.

MEPs opposed the draft proposal by the European Commission with 618 votes to 33 and 28 abstentions.

The piece of delegated leglislation would have made it legal to use cadmium-based quantum dot technology in TV screens until June 2017 in the European Union.

The European Parliament’s rejection of the proposal does not ban cadmium quantum dots, but will trigger a new assessment. The current exemption remains valid until revoked.

The campaign against this amendment to the law had gathered steam over the last few weeks. Nanoco, the UK-based manufacture of Cd-free quantum dots, had argued that this exemption would have posed a threat to human health and that demand for QD tech could be met with Cd-free technology.

Last week, Dr. Hunter McDaniel, CEO of UbiQD, had exclusively told New Materials News that a blanket ban on Cd-based quantum dot technology should not be considered until the industry had solved its wider “toxicity problem”.

He pointed out that some Cd-free quantum dot manufacturers used, what he considered to be, the equally dangerous indium phosphide.

Reacting to today’s development, Michael Edelman, Nanoco’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are very pleased by this decision by the European Parliament and we would like to thank MEPs for the time they have taken to understand the detail and implications of the proposed exemption.”

“The MEPs, through the overwhelming rejection of the proposed extension for cadmium in the EU market, have created a clear demand for the European Commission to end the use of cadmium in domestic display applications. We commend Parliamentarians on their resolve and understanding of how the market has changed since the Commission’s initial assessment.”

The EU Environment Committee could not be reached for comment.

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