<http://tinyurl.com/protoxic >
ROTTEN SMELL RAISES APPLE TOXIN FEARS
Toxic ... Apple's Mac Pro.
Asher Moses
October 2, 2008
Apple is investigating damning claims, published in a leading French
newspaper, that its computers emit a toxic odor containing chemicals
including the cancer-causing benzene.
Liberation cited an anonymous researcher from the French National
Centre for Scientific Research, who had his Mac Pro desktop tested
for the toxins after he detected a strong odour emanating from the
machine.
Apple has not denied the accusations. Its spokesman, Bill Evans, told
Macworld the company had not found any evidence to support the claim
but Apple would continue to investigate.
Posts on Apple's own discussion boards suggest the Mac maker knew
about potentially toxic odors being linked to its computers as early
as December last year.
While benzene was not mentioned in the posts, many users complained
of experiencing headaches, nausea and dizziness. The smell has been
variously described as "new car smell", "musty", "rotting carpet" and
even cannabis. "My entire room smells bad and I have had to resort
to a few air fresheners just to be able to work on it," one report
read.
Another user on Apple's discussion board linked the toxic odor to the
death of their bird: "I recently have had a bird die 'mysteriously'
which was caged near my MacPro which has had the terrible smell for
months. The vet said it was likely he inhaled something toxic!!!"
In Liberation's article, written in French, the researcher said his
eyes, nose and throat became irritated after 10 days of using the
computer.
"The computer emitted fumes which, after a week of use, caused a
pronounced irritation of the cornea and respiratory passages," he
said.
Apple changed the researcher's power supply before replacing the
entire computer but the strange smell remained.
He then contacted Greenpeace, which sent the computer to the
Analytica lab for analysis. Seven "volatile organic contaminants"
were identified, including styrene, benzene and its derivatives.
Benzene, a known carcinogen, damages bone marrow and can cause a
decrease in red blood cells, leading to leukemia and other blood
cancers.
It can be found in tobacco smoke, plastics, styrene and products such
as glues, paints and detergents. But the chemical's presence in
consumer products such as computers has dropped sharply as its severe
health consequences have come to light.
Although officially Apple says it has found no evidence of the
toxins, its customer support staff have allegedly told some callers
that the company was aware of the problem, which concerned Mac Pro
computers built before this year.
Liberation, which has a daily circulation of about 130,000 copies,
reported Apple France as saying its engineers were working on the
problem.
Apple's public relations team is notorious for refusing to
acknowledge reported faults in its products.
But some users on the company's discussion boards have come up with
their own solution. Some reports say the smell - apparently caused by
a protective resin coating on some of the circuit boards - disappears
after an initial "burn-in" period.
Others have fixed the problem by removing small plastic strips from
the side door of the computer case.
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