“Five months after the activist groups China Labor Watch and Green America launched a petition drive calling on Apple Inc. to abandon the use of benzene and n-hexane in the production of iPhones,” Apple has done just that, according to The Associated Press.
“Apple says a four-month investigation at 22 factories found no evidence that benzene and n-hexane was endangering the roughly 500,000 people who work at the plants,” AP reports. “The Cupertino, California company nevertheless decided the substances should no longer be allowed during the final assembly process.”
Brief article in full here.
Related articles:
Samsung: Sorry about that cancer – May 14, 2014
Greenpeace praises Apple for reducing use of conflict minerals – February 13, 2014
Apple confirms suppliers use conflict-free minerals – February 13, 2014
Fair Labor Association sees progress at major Apple supplier Foxconn – December 12, 2013
How were these chemicals being used in the factory?
Isn’t there a new liquidmetal formula that’s benzene-free?
I’m sure this will be criticized, as all Apple action appear to be, but name another company who would be as responsive to such concerns.
Samsung has done worse. Don’t get me started on how they donate money to a eugenics group in South Korea that wants to get rid of gay autistics. It makes me sick that Sammy can get away with this, yet Apple is bullied for making small mistakes. 🙁
Seriously? Eugenics crap still goes on in the world? In Korea?! How about we sterilize all the eugenics proponents? It would make just as much sense.
That would still leave them too much to wreak havoc.
Too much time …
So, are they putting the same pressure on Samsung? Or do they not care?
There are a variety of material safety data sheets (MSDS) for benzene and n-hexane. Here are the International Chemical Safety Cards from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health:
Benzene:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ipcsneng/neng0015.html
N-Hexane:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ipcsneng/neng0279.html
Who needs the Chemical Rubber Handbook when they can consult you? BTW, what are the ionic transport mechanisms in conducting polymers? We are looking into the Arrhenius model in assessing the stability of CD-R media in a humid environment. Salinity is an issue. We’ll cite you in the paper.
Thanks for that idiotic and unnecessary comment.
And that whooshing sound is Hannah’s humour going straight over your pointy little head.
I have to admit, this comment is not up to your usual quality. But perhaps I’m missing some angle on the humor?
nathan, I am constantly posting foolish nonsense, or hadn’t you noticed?
ACK! Thou hast overmuch challenged my alchemical erudition.
All I can do is point you to Kodak’s studies of the subject:
http://www.cd-info.com/archiving/kodak/index.html
http://www.cd-info.com/archiving/Arrhenius.html
For those interested:
What is the Arrhenius Model?
The Arrhenius Model is an excellent tool for exploring the relationship between activation energy and the speed of a chemical reaction. This equation has many scientific uses including calculating the rate of decay of a CD-R disc. The equation takes its name from Svante Arrhenius, the Swedish chemist who first explored the idea of activation energy in a reaction.
funny
Lol this is safety gone mad. I use n-hexane almost daily at work, it’s a very useful solvent not sure how Apple has replaced it. Probably with another “evil” sounding solvent…
N-hexane, in huge quantities, is even used in the food industry to extract cooking oil from corn or seeds.
Samsung must be laughing (and maybe writing cheques), they’ll never ever ban such a thing.
Maybe Apple should create a solvent of their own with a nice friendly name….
You may wish to rethink your work flow: “N-hexane has been reported to be the most highly toxic member of the alkanes. When n-hexane is ingested, it causes nausea, vertigo, bronchial irritation, intestinal irritation and CNS effects. It has been reported that ~50 g of n-hexane may be fatal to humans. Furthermore, n-hexane is biotransformed to 2-hexanol and further to 2,5-hexanediol by cytochrome P450 mixed function oxidases by omega oxidation. 2,5-Hexanediol may be further oxidized to 2,5-hexanedione, which is neurotoxic and produces a polyneuropathy.”
Hexane is used in many industries, as prevalent as formaldehyde probably. A number of years ago I was horrified to learn of trace hexane in a brand of Evening Primrose oil. That made me into an inveterate label-reader and toxin-non-ingester.
137 iPhone workers sickened by n-hexane:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/technology/23apple.html?pagewanted=all
Thus rendering the ‘environmental group’s’ protest and concern…. Moot.
Whoops.
Way to go Apple, the benzene ring is a real nasty chemical. Great story behind the discovery of the structure of chemical though by Kekule.
Literally a dream…
I’ve always liked that image of the little fire-brands chasing each other around the ring…
Literally a figurative dream.
Of course not a single word on if they still use the tainted souls of the damned. Way to throw everyone off the trail, Apple.
They do indeed. But only after a thorough cleansing in the dreaded Benzene Ring of Party Fun.
As I have espoused for many years, the suffering of the souls of the damned is a remarkable renewable source of necromantic energy. Would that its most prominent exponents had not be burned at the stake, we might today be free of the tyranny of carbon fuels. 😎
Oh Derek, I love it when you get all necromantic!
(‘My Chemical Necromance’, anyone?)