[Pharmwaste] NGO praises Apple's move to end use of bromine and chlorine

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://pubs.acs.org/action/showStoryContent?doi=10.1021%2Fon.2009.01.27.
244568

NGO praises Apple's move to end use of bromine and chlorine

Apple's commitment to eliminating halogenated elements from its products
is an extraordinary step forward, according to an NGO white paper.

Kellyn Betts

Publication Date (Web): January 28, 2009

By reengineering its iPods, iPhones, laptops, and computers to exclude
all forms of bromine and chlorine, Apple, Inc., has "gone further than
any other electronics company toward . . . reduc[ing] the risk of
exposure to chemicals known or suspected to impact the environment and
human health," according to an analysis by Clean Production Action
(CPA), a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that focuses on green
chemistry.

Apple's approach to eliminating persistent and toxic halogens from its
products is more comprehensive than similar efforts by other
companies.Materials containing bromine and chlorine can produce dioxins
if electronic equipment is not recycled properly. Consequently,
environmental groups like Greenpeace, which publishes an influential
electronics rankings guide, have been urging electronics companies to
discontinue the use of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) plastics. IPC (formerly known as the Institute for
Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits), an association
representing computer manufacturers and suppliers, is currently
developing an industry standard to officially define what being PVC- and
BFR-free means.

By eliminating the intentional use of halogenated elements-which Apple's
website says that it is on track to do by the end of 2009-the company
will far exceed environmental groups' recommendations, stresses
Alexandra McPherson, CPA's project director. In comparison, IPC's
standard seems likely to allow the continued use of some BFRs and
probably will not prohibit all uses of PVC plastics, according to
McPherson, who is a member of the committee helping IPC develop the
standards.

A major way Apple is able to avoid bromine in its new products is
through the use of inherently fire-resistant materials such as titanium
and aluminum. Any flammable plastics are protected with less hazardous
retardants, such as magnesium hydroxide and ammonium polyphosphate,
according to the paper. Because halogenated compounds are also used in
cable insulation, solvents, inks, dyes, optical films, and flux
materials, Apple had to reformulate hundreds of components, the paper
points out.

Apple's policy does allow products to contain up to 900 parts per
million of bromine or chlorine residues. McPherson says that her
organization recognizes that because electronics companies work with
hundreds of suppliers that may use bromine and chlorine in their
manufacturing environments, "you have to set a trace threshold." To CPA,
she says, the key consideration is that Apple's new standard
"effectively closes the door on brominated flame retardants" because
they cannot function if added to electronics products at such low
levels.

CPA's white paper stresses that halogenated organic chemicals tend to be
persistent, toxic, and/or bioaccumulative, and there are many "bad
actors" in this class of chemicals. The organization contends that
Apple's move is "setting the next major environmental health standard in
the electronics sector."




Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permit Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program
PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218 (NEW!)
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028
FAX:      804-698-4032