Filed under: Hardware, Portables, Bad Apple, MacBook
Greenpeace declares MacBooks 'poison Apples'
We all know that Greenpeace isn't too happy with Apple's commitment to the environment. The latest news is that Apple portables have some of the highest amounts of toxic chemicals in them of 5 manufacturers tested (Acer, Apple, Dell, HP, Sony). The MacBook has the highest concentration of tetrabromobisphenol A, which is a flame retardant.Apple is in the process of looking for a replacement for this chemical, but in the mean time I wouldn't suggest cracking open your Apple portable and licking it.
[via Daring Fireball]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
narco said 7:39PM on 9-19-2006
Now, I don't know if it's because I only read up on Apple's doings and not other computer manufacturers, but I've read a few articles about Apple being more "green." Most recently, the new iPod nano's 50% reduction in packaging.
Now, is it that Apple doesn't follow through, or are these hippies too hard to please? It just seems like if it's not one thing, it's something completely different. I mean, c'mon, tetrabromobisphenol A? Does that shit even exist, or are they just making stuff up?
Fishes,
narco.
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Jon said 7:45PM on 9-19-2006
Greanpeace?
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Andy S. said 7:51PM on 9-19-2006
I agree with narco. "Fishes," to you, too, my man. But I mainly wanted to say, thank you, Dr. McNulty, for making me laugh. Or are you serious? I heard tetrabromobisphenol A is actually quite tasty.
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Fred said 7:59PM on 9-19-2006
I don't know why it is that Apple, or anyone else for that matter feels the need to pay attention to these whackjobs. They find whatever is popular in the current culture, and they find a way to make it bad! I mean I used to LOOVE clubbing baby seals, and then those jerks came along, and ruined it! Anyway, if a little bit of that stuff keeps my Sony made battery from burning down my house, then I'm for it! At least until ELF comes, and burns it down instead.
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Travis Bell said 7:54PM on 9-19-2006
> ...but in the mean time I wouldn't suggest cracking open your Apple portable and licking it.
Well damnit Scott, I just finished putting my Mac Book back together after having some friends over where we had a lick my 'Book party! Sometimes you're just minutes too late.
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Andy S. said 7:55PM on 9-19-2006
Sorry. Actually, I believe "Scrumtiddlyumptious" was the word I heard that was associated with the taste of tetrabromobisphenol A.
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charles said 8:03PM on 9-19-2006
y iz greanpiece sow anoying
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narco said 8:07PM on 9-19-2006
Well, it's only obvious why they always attack Apple, it's because they're always in the news. If the same thing happened to Toshiba, it wouldn't even get 1/4 of the press. For that reason alone I usually try to avoid reading stories like this.
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spil said 8:16PM on 9-19-2006
rofl, scot, "in the mean time I wouldn't suggest cracking open your Apple portable and licking it.", rofl.
Narco, why do you say fishes?
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Indiana said 4:14PM on 9-20-2006
Well, I have a cat and it is very attracted to the macbook and indeed licking and sniffing it all the time if I don't force it to stop. She doesn't do it with all the other macs...
Should I be worried now?
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Adrian vG said 8:52PM on 9-19-2006
Not to offend the author of this article, but who cares? ;)
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Motorcycle Michael said 10:37PM on 9-19-2006
Rubber gloves, nice touch..... How do you remove kapton tape? But, hey, nevermind notebooks - what's inside an Etch-a-Sketch?
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Lollapallooza said 9:01PM on 9-19-2006
Of course "tetrabromobisphenol A" does in fact exist;
(pdf) http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/cotstatements04tbbpa.pdf
of course, 2 seconds of googling would've given you at least *some* background before making comments that make you sound totally ignorant.
It's interesting how Macheads get offended when Windows users outright dismiss their claim that "Macs are superior to PC's" without ever having tried a Mac, or even knowing anything about them. Yet these same "offended" Mac users are acting just like those ignorant PC users on this issue. Did'ya ever stop to think for a moment that maybe, just maybe, a group that deals primarily with environmental issues just might in fact be more informed about the effects of chemicals in the environment than you?
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narco said 9:14PM on 9-19-2006
Calm down and be careful, dude. It's well known that exposure to tetrabromobisphenol A makes it nearly impossible to comprehend sarcasm.
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Nate said 9:23PM on 9-19-2006
Puh-leeze. This stuff (or something very similar) is in nearly every modern electronic device produced. Anywhere there is a PCB (and think about it -- they're everywhere) there is going to be a flame retardant, otherwise, well, you know...
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Macman47 said 9:25PM on 9-19-2006
As per my usual response to Greenpeace. PPPTTTTBBB!
Bugger orf! When you can make a solid argument about everything you bitch about then come and talk to me.
Also Apple, please work on being friendly to the environment.
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CRH said 9:49PM on 9-19-2006
My Grandma hates Apple too. She is about as relevant as greenpeace.
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Mike said 9:51PM on 9-19-2006
This is bunk. Daniel Eran provides a very thorough review of Greenpeace's claims and the truth about what "toxic chemicals" a PowerBook contains in this piece: http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Home/ABC6DFDA-9DE9-4EA8-A269-65EAAB628676.html
Specifically regarding the aforementioned flame retardant:
"Greenpeace made a big deal about non-regulated flame retardants in their earlier report, and specifically dinged Apple for not having published information on their website about the use of chemicals that are not restricted in the RoHS or other government or industry regulations.
However, despite all the stink, the lab tests only found 262 ppm of TBBPA (a non regulated flame retardant) in the internal fan assembly of the MacBook Pro. That's one quarter of the amount legally allowed of the restricted flame retardants.
In other words, if Apple were using a regulated toxic chemical, they could get away with using four times as much and still meet the strict RoHS standard."
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myheaditches said 9:56PM on 9-19-2006
12: An Etch-A-Sketch contains powdered aluminum and styrene beads.
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DanP said 10:42PM on 9-19-2006
Ah, it's metadioxin all over again. :)
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