Apple Could Face Lawsuit Over ‘Toxic’ iPhone Report
October 17, 2007
A consumer watchdog group is considering a lawsuit against Apple, after the release of a Greenpeace report that alleges the company’s iPhone contains toxic chemicals, though some critics have labeled the study a publicity stunt.
According to the conservation group’s report, scientists at Greenpeace Research Laboratories at the U.K.’s University of Exeter who dismantled the phone and tested 18 of its components found brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Greenpeace claims BFRs can release toxic chemicals when recycled, and products with PVC have come under fire in the past few years for potentially leaking harmful chemicals.
The report acknowledged, however, that the levels of both substances found in the phone were in accordance with U.S. and European government regulations.
Future editions of the iPhone are unlikely to contain the substances in question after a May announcement by Apple that it would manufacture products without BFRs and PVC by the end of 2008.
