CEH says iPhone, iPod headphone cords pose health risk
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Nov 9, 2007 at 1:22pm
After conducting its own “independent lab tests,” the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), a non-profit consumer watchdog group, has concluded that the headphone cords for both the iPhone and iPod do indeed contain high levels of phthalates, reports Wired.
While the previous Greenpeace analysis found 5070 parts per million (ppm) of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) in the iPhone headset cable, the CEH’s subsequent testing actually found 6200 ppm of DBP in the headset cable of the phone and 6300 ppm DBP in the iPod headset cable. That, according to the safety group, violates California state standards.
“Apple customers should know that when they get their hands on an iPhone they may be getting a dose of toxic chemicals as well,” said Michael Green, executive director of CEH, in a statement issued Thursday morning. “It’s clear that Apple’s priority is to market new products as fast as possible, not as safely as possible. For their customers who are buying now, that’s just not good enough.”
However, the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF), the international organization of the bromine chemical industry knocked Greenpeace, condemning the environmental lobby group for making unfair criticism of Apple’s iPhone’s green credentials. The firm also claimed Greenpeace sensationalized its findings. Meanwhile, in October, the CEH initiated legal action against Apple for the iPhone and iPod headphone cords following the Greenpeace report on potentially toxic chemicals in the phone.
“Yet the group’s beef with Apple, at this point, remains unclear,” notes Wired. “Previously, the CEH said that it wasn’t phthalates levels themselves that were in violation of California law, but rather that the company was potentially violating Prop 65 by not including appropriate warnings on its packaging. Now, the message seems to be that the phthalates levels themselves are in violation.”
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
