iPoisonous?
- Posted by: Andrew Price
- on November 9, 2007 at 4:12 pm
We’ve got a few iPhones around the GOOD offices, so we’re a little concerned about the high levels of “toxic chemicals” they may contain.
In the video below Greenpeace takes apart an iPhone to expose its possibly poisonous innards to the world. It’s cool to see an iPhone dismantled in fast-motion to a techno-thriller soundtrack, but by the end of the video we were left wondering what exactly the health risks are. The video cites high levels of bromine and phthalates. Sounds…dangerous? Delicious? We don’t know. We’ve never heard of those.
Turns out they are pretty dangerous. Bromine does blisters and mental dullness. Phthalates screw with your hormones. Hopefully the concentrations are small and/or this stuff doesn’t get out of the products at all. Those of us without iPhones are still kinda jealous.
DISCUSSION: 1 Comment
Great that you are bringing this unpopular point up — our better living is made possible by toxic chemistry. But you imply no worries if the toxics don’t leak out of our gagets. Think about the lifecycle of the iPhone — assembly and then disassembly and you have a lot of exposed people. It’s our problem too.