For more than 20 years, our Restricted Substance Management Standard has spelled out materials to be avoided or eliminated in Ford operations and the parts and materials provided by suppliers. This and other materials management tools are helping us to meet and exceed customer expectations and ensure compliance with regulations.

For example, Ford of Europe vehicles were the first vehicles worldwide to be awarded an "allergy-tested interior" certification by the German TÜV Rheinland organization, the independent industry body controlling and approving quality standards of industrial and consumer products. The award recognizes that the vehicles' interiors consist exclusively of materials that reduce the risk to allergy sufferers to the lowest possible level. Five models have been certified: the Ka, the European Focus (including the Focus Coupé-Cabriolet), the S-MAX, the Galaxy and, most recently, the new Mondeo. Ford aims to have as many existing and future cars as possible certified according to the TÜV criteria. With this initiative, Ford offers its customers products that address the growing societal concern about allergies.

Ford has decreased the use of mercury-containing components, which can pose problems at the end of a vehicle's life. In 2001, we eliminated mercury-containing switches, which accounted for more than 99 percent of the mercury used in our U.S. vehicles. Since that time, we have continued to focus on mercury reduction by working to eliminate mercury in the remaining mercury-containing components, including high-intensity discharge headlamps, navigation system screens and family entertainment system screens. The 2007 Lincoln Navigator was our first vehicle with mercury-free high-intensity discharge (HID) headlamps. This year, the Ford Mustang, Ford Flex and Lincoln MKS will also have mercury-free HID headlamps. In addition, the Flex and MKS will include mercury-free navigation system screens.

In addition, we have helped to forge a collaboration between the EPA, states, auto dismantlers, auto scrap recyclers, steelmakers and environmental groups to recycle mercury switches from end-of-life vehicles. This effort was rolled out across the country in 2007, with more than 6,000 participants joining the effort from the recycling industry. On February 29, 2008, the EPA and its partners celebrated the collection of the one-millionth mercury auto switch at an auto dismantler's site in Georgia. An online database tracks the number of participants in the program as well as the number of switches collected by state.

Hexavalent chromium – "hex chrome" for short – is a corrosion coating (used, for example, on nuts, bolts and brackets in cars and trucks) that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration lists as a potential lung carcinogen. We did not wait for global regulations banning the use of hex chrome to take effect – we phased out its use worldwide. By 2007, Ford had eliminated all hexavalent chromium-containing parts in Europe and North America. Replacement coatings have been thoroughly tested to ensure that they meet Ford's performance requirements.

In North America, Ford has completed the transition from lead to steel wheel weights on light-duty vehicles with the exception of steel wheels on select trucks. These remaining wheels are in the process of being changed over to steel weights. In addition, Ford's Customer Service Division no longer offers lead wheel weights for sale to dealers, but offers steel wheel weights in their stead. Ford of Europe phased out the use of lead wheel weights in new and serviced vehicles in mid-2005.