When will promises of
a greener Apple bear fruit?
15 October 2007 - International — Scientific
tests, arranged by Greenpeace, reveal that
Apple's iPhone contains hazardous chemicals.
The tests uncovered two types of hazardous
substances, some of which have already been
eliminated by other mobile phone makers.
In May, due to our successful Green my
Apple campaign Steve Jobs, the boss of Apple,
claimed: "Apple is ahead of, or will
soon be ahead of, most of its competitors"
on environmental issues.
We watched closely when the iPhone was
launched in June for any mention of the
green features of the phone from Apple.
There was none.
So we bought a new iPhone in June and sent
it our Research Laboratories in the UK.
Analysis revealed that the iPhone contains
toxic brominated compounds (indicating the
prescence of brominated flame retardants
(BFRs)) and hazardous PVC. The findings
are detailed in the report, "Missed
call: the iPhone's hazardous chemicals"
There have been thousands of media articles
about the iPhone. Few of them have discussed
the phone's environmental credentials. Check
out our video of the disassembly of the
iPhone and what the tests revealed:
An independent scientific laboratory tested
18 internal and external components of the
iPhone and confirmed the presence of brominated
compounds in half the samples, including
in the phone's antenna, in which they made
up 10 percent of the total weight of the
flexible circuit board. A mixture of toxic
phthalates was found to make up 1.5 percent
of the plastic (PVC) coating of the headphone
cables.
"Steve Jobs has missed the call on
making the iPhone his first step towards
greening Apple's products," said Zeina
Alhajj, Greenpeace International toxics
campaigner. "It seems that Apple is
far from leading the way for a green electronics
industry as competitors, like Nokia, already
sell mobile phones free of PVC".
Dr. David Santillo, Senior Scientist at
the Greenpeace Research Laboratories, commented,
"Two of the phthalate plasticisers
found at high levels in the headphone cable
are classified in Europe as 'toxic to reproduction,
category 2' because of their long-recognised
ability to interfere with sexual development
in mammals. While they are not prohibited
in mobile phones, these phthalates are banned
from use in all toys or childcare articles
sold in Europe. Apple should eliminate the
use of these chemicals from its products
range."
Here's a slideshow of how the iPhone was
disassembled for testing:
Link to this slideshow
The disassembling also revealed the iPhone's
battery was, unusually, glued and soldered
in to the handset. This hinders battery
replacement and makes separation for recycling,
or appropriate disposal, more difficult,
and therefore adds to the burden of electronic
waste.
Behind the competition
Nokia is totally PVC free, Motorola and
Sony Ericsson have already products on the
market with BFR free components. Apple's
competitors have also identified extra toxic
chemicals they intend to remove in the future
- beyond current minimum legal requirements.
Nokia and Sony Ericsson have better take-back
policies than Apple and accept responsibility
for reuse and recycling of phones they manufacture.
That saves resources and helps prevent old
phones from adding to the mountain of e-waste
that has been dumped in Asia.
Apple does not have a global free take-back
policy so the eventual fate of the between
four and 10 million iPhones expected to
be sold in its first year is uncertain.
With next month's European launch of the
iPhone, Apple should sell a version which
is at least as green as the offerings from
Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola.
Only then can loyal fans of Steve Jobs
believe that his promises of a greener Apple
will bear any fruit. Right now Steve appears
to have any green product news 'on hold'.
