23 October 2007 - International
— Our investigation into hazardous materials
in laptops shows that manufacturers have
phased out use of some of the most toxic
materials over the past year but still have
a long way to go in eliminating others,
such as PVC, brominated flame retardants
(BFRs) and phthalates.
We purchased 18 laptops from Acer, Apple,
Dell, HP, Sony and Toshiba in 14 countries
in Europe, the Americas and Asia and sent
them for analysis by an independent laboratory
and at our Exeter Research Laboratories.
The report, "Toxic chemicals in computers
- Reloaded", show bromine being present
in over 40 percent of the components tested,
at concentrations of up to 10 percent by
weight. Of the components tested, Sony laptops
were found to have the lowest number containing
bromine, Dell laptops had the highest number.
PVC was found in 44 percent of all plastic
coating internal wires and external cables
that were tested. Phthalates were found
in the power cables supplied with all laptops,
with the highest levels in those of Acer
and HP laptops.
The new report follows up our investigation
into toxics in laptops sold in Europe in
2006, before EU legislation on hazardous
substances in electronic equipment, known
as RoHS.
With the implementation of RoHS, computer
manufacturers have significantly reduced
their use of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent
chromium and certain brominated flame retardants.
The good news is these changes have been
implemented by all companies and not only
for the European market where it is a minimum
legal requirement.
The analysis shows that, for almost every
component found to contain either bromine
or plastic PVC, an equivalent component
free of these chemicals can be found in
another laptop.
First computer free of the worst toxic chemicals?
In theory, by combining components from
different machines, the industry could already
almost produce the first computer free of
the worst toxic chemicals. The question
is, which company is going to be the first
to go the whole way?
"While levels of certain toxic chemicals
in the laptop components tested do not exceed
current European standards, other hazardous
chemicals found in laptops are not yet covered
by European regulations," said Zeina
Alhajj, Greenpeace International toxics
campaigner.
"Greenpeace's goal is for computer
manufacturers to eliminate the use of toxic
materials completely."
"The results demonstrate that legislation
in one region can have an influence even
in countries where it does not yet apply.
However, even where they do exist, current
laws fail to regulate all hazardous chemicals
in laptops, or in other electrical equipment,
"said Dr. Kevin Brigden from the Greenpeace
Research Laboratories who oversaw the sampling
analyses and produced the report. "Laws
which aim to protect human health and the
environment must ultimately address all
hazardous substances," he added.
Who's making the most progress?
We have been working since 2004 to push
all the computer companies mentioned in
the report to eliminate the worst toxic
chemicals.
They have all published plans to drop these
chemicals in 2008/9 (with the exception
of HP) from all their products. These plans
form part of the companies' scores in our
Guide to Greener Electronics.
Our ranking guide also scores companies
on whether they have already computer models
free of PVC and BFRs on the market. Based
on this criterion, out of the computer companies
whose laptops we tested, Sony scores highest
followed by Toshiba.
On the basis of this test, it seems Sony
is closest to the goal of eliminating toxic
chemicals from computers. Apple is making
progress since the last test but Dell, HP
and Acer still have the most work to do.
