Published: May 15, 2026
The European Commission updated Annex XVII of the REACH regulation, cutting the allowable cobalt migration threshold in electronics from 500 ppm to 100 ppm, with full enforcement starting November 1, 2026. Cobalt is widely used in PCB surface plating, conductive adhesives and solder alloy additives. All electronics importers, chemical raw material vendors and third-party testing labs serving the EU market must complete full supply chain cobalt traceability audits before Q4 2026. No blanket exemptions apply to automotive, medical or aerospace circuit board components, forcing upstream chemical suppliers to reformulate plating and coating raw materials.