“Workers in southern China, who say they were assembling Apple laptops and iPhones, have become seriously ill after using a dangerous chemical,” Stephen McDonell reports for ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) News.
“The Number Five People’s Hospital in Suzhou has been treating workers who breathed in vapours from the chemical n-hexane,” McDonell reports. “According to the workers, the chemical was being used in the production of Apple products and has left them unable to walk.”
McDonell reports, “They say they were using n-hexane to glue and polish the logos on Apple products – at least they assumed they were not fakes. One had kept some of the logos they were using to prove that they were working on Apple products and showed them to the ABC. After breathing in the chemical’s vapours, they became dizzy and numb and eventually they could not walk… The women have now been in hospital for more than half a year.”
“The workers’ boss, Zhong Jianxiang, was not available to be interviewed,” McDonell reports. “Apple, meanwhile, would not confirm it had sourced products from companies based in China, but said it had tightened its requirements regarding workplace safety at its suppliers.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Melo” and “Michael D.” for the heads up.]
I’m trying to think of a single Apple logo that is glued. Everything I have is engraved or machined. Maybe the black apple that is inset on the front of my iMac? But really, considering the number of iMacs built, would there be like an epidemic or something if this were true. I don’t have an iPhone, so I can’t speak to that. Sounds phoney to me.
@3monkies – good call – I do hope they get better, but this has nothing to do with Apple other than they happened to be assembling Apple products at the time. Apple’s all about green stuff anyway, and they tour manufacturing facilities. That’s something they don’t have to do. It is above and beyond the bare minimum, and I’m glad they take the extra step for employee treatment.
A lot of glues, paints, etc are safe once they dry, but dangerous fumes / flammable before drying. Who knows if this is even true, or if the employees, themselves made a mistake while handling the glue.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7333077
@3monkies – good call – I do hope they get better, but this has nothing to do with Apple other than they happened to be assembling Apple products at the time. Apple’s all about green stuff anyway, and they tour manufacturing facilities. That’s something they don’t have to do. It is above and beyond the bare minimum, and I’m glad they take the extra step for employee treatment.
A lot of glues, paints, etc are safe once they dry, but dangerous fumes / flammable before drying. Who knows if this is even true, or if the employees, themselves made a mistake while handling the glue.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7333077
These vapors smell fishy to me.
These vapors smell fishy to me.
I’ve worked with n-hexane before. It’s part of the paraffin series (methane, ethane, propane, butane, etc.). Hexane is the lightest in the series that is a liquid. It’s not terribly dangerous (you can’t be fooled by an MSDS because it would make acidic acid, a.k.a. vinegar look like the kiss of death).
But one does need to have plenty of ventilation. Having rags soaked in hexane evaporating into the air will make you feel lightheaded and ill.
This is so blown out of proportion. There is just some line supervisor who isn’t doing his job to ensure there is plenty of cross-flow ventilation.
And now some issue that should have been handled by a guy in China making $24,000 a year is now on the radar screen of Steve Jobs, the most famous CEO on the planet.
I’ve worked with n-hexane before. It’s part of the paraffin series (methane, ethane, propane, butane, etc.). Hexane is the lightest in the series that is a liquid. It’s not terribly dangerous (you can’t be fooled by an MSDS because it would make acidic acid, a.k.a. vinegar look like the kiss of death).
But one does need to have plenty of ventilation. Having rags soaked in hexane evaporating into the air will make you feel lightheaded and ill.
This is so blown out of proportion. There is just some line supervisor who isn’t doing his job to ensure there is plenty of cross-flow ventilation.
And now some issue that should have been handled by a guy in China making $24,000 a year is now on the radar screen of Steve Jobs, the most famous CEO on the planet.
No problem: chinese are not invited to tea parties…
No problem: chinese are not invited to tea parties…
Glued-on Apple logo? Name one. And how would an automated production line turning out thousands of products per hour include gluing on logos by hand? If anything, this sounds like a non-Apple, low budget, low production operation creating counterfeit merchandise.
Glued-on Apple logo? Name one. And how would an automated production line turning out thousands of products per hour include gluing on logos by hand? If anything, this sounds like a non-Apple, low budget, low production operation creating counterfeit merchandise.
Masks. They use them in industry for a reason. If the plant workers are getting exposure.. it’s the plant manager that is at fault. OSHA exists for a reason.
In other news, people who stand in the middle of the road are more likely to get run over.
Masks. They use them in industry for a reason. If the plant workers are getting exposure.. it’s the plant manager that is at fault. OSHA exists for a reason.
In other news, people who stand in the middle of the road are more likely to get run over.
Suzhou is not in southern China. It is west of Shanghai. Does Apple make anything in Suzhou?
Second, what apple logos need gluing?
Third, hexane poisoning cases have come up in the chinese press before with other companies. This could be a shakedown.
Suzhou is not in southern China. It is west of Shanghai. Does Apple make anything in Suzhou?
Second, what apple logos need gluing?
Third, hexane poisoning cases have come up in the chinese press before with other companies. This could be a shakedown.
Oh, please. What did someone do, swallow the cleanser in the bathroom?
Oh, please. What did someone do, swallow the cleanser in the bathroom?
This story dates back at least to February and the exposure appears to have been in 2009 at a Wintek plant but keeps getting recycled every few months, likely as a bargaining tool. Do a little googling next time editors and you won’t fall for such ploys.
This story dates back at least to February and the exposure appears to have been in 2009 at a Wintek plant but keeps getting recycled every few months, likely as a bargaining tool. Do a little googling next time editors and you won’t fall for such ploys.
Might the problem be the result of all the lead they were exposed to in the toys bound for the USA these guys no doubt were assembling before their Apple assignments? What goes around comes around.
Might the problem be the result of all the lead they were exposed to in the toys bound for the USA these guys no doubt were assembling before their Apple assignments? What goes around comes around.
Wassamatter with all you guys?
From Wikipedia:
“In February 2010, reports surfaced saying that an employee of Wintek Corporation (a company that supplies touchscreen components to technology companies) died in August 2009 due to n-Hexane poisoning. n-Hexane was used as a replacement to alcohol for cleaning screens. The report also revealed that another 49 employees required treatment for n-Hexane poisoning around the same time.[13] This number was later increased to 62.[14] In October 2010, further reports surfaced of another exposure to n-Hexane at a Wintek manufacturing facility located in China. An ABC Foreign Correspondent episode covertly interviewed several women who had been in the hospital for over six months. The women claimed that they were exposed to n-hexane while manufacturing iPhone hardware.”
First, to debunk the assertion that Apple computers don’t have glued and polished logos, I’m looking at one right now, on my iMac. The black apple is clearly glued on. Other Apple glue-ons might be as humble as serial number stickers, barcodes or other smaller things that we consumers don’t notice — maybe something on the motherboard for example? Geez why so sensitive?
Second, to answer the [highly arrogant and hubristic] question from Crabapple: “Why report the problem in Australia rather than in the US”, the simple answer is that it was an Australian journalist who set out to enquire. There are other intelligent, enquiring and motivated journalists besides American ones, you know.
Several other comments are also arrogant in the extreme. Fred wrote: “show the proof or hit the road”. Show? SHOW? You want someone to actually place an Apple logo or a hospital report under your nose? You don’t consider that there is enough hard detail in the report for you already?
Another moron wrote: “This is really stupid: “They say they were using n-hexane to glue and polish the logos on Apple products. First explain how one would use a glue product to clean a product.” Learn how to read. No one said glue was being used to clean a product. The report said “they were using n-hexane to glue and polish the logos” what’s wrong with that? Hexane is not a glue, but it can be a solvent in a glue. Imagine using a hexane-containing glue to adhere the item then using pure hexane to clean it afterwards, including the perfectly normal operation of removing excess glue. Dummy!
And GregL said: “This is so blown out of proportion”. How so? It’s a report in Australian media about a rather serious medical issue in China. Apple was mentioned only en passant.
Wassamatter with all you guys?
From Wikipedia:
“In February 2010, reports surfaced saying that an employee of Wintek Corporation (a company that supplies touchscreen components to technology companies) died in August 2009 due to n-Hexane poisoning. n-Hexane was used as a replacement to alcohol for cleaning screens. The report also revealed that another 49 employees required treatment for n-Hexane poisoning around the same time.[13] This number was later increased to 62.[14] In October 2010, further reports surfaced of another exposure to n-Hexane at a Wintek manufacturing facility located in China. An ABC Foreign Correspondent episode covertly interviewed several women who had been in the hospital for over six months. The women claimed that they were exposed to n-hexane while manufacturing iPhone hardware.”
First, to debunk the assertion that Apple computers don’t have glued and polished logos, I’m looking at one right now, on my iMac. The black apple is clearly glued on. Other Apple glue-ons might be as humble as serial number stickers, barcodes or other smaller things that we consumers don’t notice — maybe something on the motherboard for example? Geez why so sensitive?
Second, to answer the [highly arrogant and hubristic] question from Crabapple: “Why report the problem in Australia rather than in the US”, the simple answer is that it was an Australian journalist who set out to enquire. There are other intelligent, enquiring and motivated journalists besides American ones, you know.
Several other comments are also arrogant in the extreme. Fred wrote: “show the proof or hit the road”. Show? SHOW? You want someone to actually place an Apple logo or a hospital report under your nose? You don’t consider that there is enough hard detail in the report for you already?
Another moron wrote: “This is really stupid: “They say they were using n-hexane to glue and polish the logos on Apple products. First explain how one would use a glue product to clean a product.” Learn how to read. No one said glue was being used to clean a product. The report said “they were using n-hexane to glue and polish the logos” what’s wrong with that? Hexane is not a glue, but it can be a solvent in a glue. Imagine using a hexane-containing glue to adhere the item then using pure hexane to clean it afterwards, including the perfectly normal operation of removing excess glue. Dummy!
And GregL said: “This is so blown out of proportion”. How so? It’s a report in Australian media about a rather serious medical issue in China. Apple was mentioned only en passant.
The above comments show how biased and unconditionally loyal many readers of this website are. They thoughtlessly shrug off a very serious issue because they believe Apple is infallible. People have been paralysed and even killed, and you easily pass it off saying that the journalist is in error, or even the victims, but not Apple. Sure, I’m in love with all Apple products, and I admire their strategy for innovation, but in the end they are another money hungry corporation and they will do everything on their power to ensure they pay as little as possible whilst maintaining maximum efficiency. Maybe they should spend 0.0001% of their $15 billion cash pool and increase workers conditions by 1000%. I doubt they will. Unprofitable.
To many of the above authors, you have dismissed this article saying it is erroneous. That may be the case, but you do not know that, and by saying it is demonstrates your bias and arrogance.
The above comments show how biased and unconditionally loyal many readers of this website are. They thoughtlessly shrug off a very serious issue because they believe Apple is infallible. People have been paralysed and even killed, and you easily pass it off saying that the journalist is in error, or even the victims, but not Apple. Sure, I’m in love with all Apple products, and I admire their strategy for innovation, but in the end they are another money hungry corporation and they will do everything on their power to ensure they pay as little as possible whilst maintaining maximum efficiency. Maybe they should spend 0.0001% of their $15 billion cash pool and increase workers conditions by 1000%. I doubt they will. Unprofitable.
To many of the above authors, you have dismissed this article saying it is erroneous. That may be the case, but you do not know that, and by saying it is demonstrates your bias and arrogance.