Benzene is classified by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a risky carcinogen that can cause leukemia and other blood disorders. N-hexane IS associated with nerve damage.
Wednesday, Apple announced that it is banning the use of benzene and n-hexane in the final assembly of all of its devices. This is in principal to protect its factory workers even if a four-month investigation at 22 factories had not found real problems. “This is doing everything we can think of to do to crack down on chemical exposures and to be responsive to concerns,” Apple’s vice president of environmental initiatives Lisa Jackson told to the media. It seems there is no danger for Apple devices’ users. Previously, a study by a researcher at France’s INERIS claimed that odors stemming from certain Mac Pros are the result of benzene emissions. Apple answered that it has found no evidence of benzene emissions from the Mac Pro, although it continues to look into the issue.
