Palm pulls Treo over dangerous substances

The Treo 650 smart phone has fallen victim to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive in Europe.

Palm has been forced to stop shipping its Treo 650 smart phone in Europe, because it violates new environmental laws introduced at the start of this month.

The EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive (RoHS) outlaws the sale of equipment that contains excessive levels of substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium, or certain flame retardants.

Rather than update the 650 so it was compatible with the RoHS's demands, Palm has decided to withdraw it from the European market.

"We felt like the product was long in its lifecycle and to make that change at this point did not make sense," explained chief executive Ed Colligan, according to the IDG News Service. Palm did not immediately return requests for further comments.

The company is expected to launch a replacement for the Treo 650 for Europe in the coming months.

Palm is one of the first companies to admit that it has been forced to withdraw a product because of the introduction of the RoHS directive.