Apple bans use of two chemicals in iPhone assembly

Apple is banning the use of two potentially hazardous chemicals during the final assembly of iPhones and iPads as part of the company’s latest commitment to protect the factory workers who build its trendy devices. A four-month investigation at 22 factories found no evidence that benzene and n-hexane endangered the roughly 500,000 people who work at the plants, according to Apple. No traces of the chemicals were detected at 18 of the factories and the amounts found at the other four factories fell within acceptable safety levels, the Cupertino, California, company said. Nevertheless, Apple decided to order its suppliers to stop using it; and Apple is now requiring all its factories to test all substances to ensure that they don’t contain benzene or n-hexane, even if the chemicals aren’t listed in the ingredients.

I hope they will continue to remove the most dangerous chemicals to human health or find ways to reduce the exposure

Elizabeth O’Connell, Green America’s campaign director America

The decision announced Wednesday comes 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. Neither chemical is unique to Apple’s manufacturing process. They are also used in the production of electronics products sold by other large technology companies that have also been criticized for their practices. Low levels of benzene are also found in gasoline, cigarettes, paints, glues and detergents.

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