Apple takes a tiny step away from toxins

Five months after labour and environmental campaigners called on Apple to remove highly toxic chemicals including benzene and n-hexane from its supplier factories in China, the hi-tech multinational has announced it will “explicitly prohibit the use of benzene and n-hexane” at 22 of its final assembly supplier factories employing nearly 500,000 workers.
Elizabeth O’Connell, Green America’s campaigns director and the coordinator of a global 23,000-plus signature petition to Apple, said it proved public pressure can work. She said “we’ve been able to push one of the biggest companies in the world to change its practices.”
Benzene, one of the best known and long-recognised occupational carcinogens, can cause leukaemia and other blood disorders. The chemical n-hexane is a potent neurotoxin that can cause nerve damage and paralysis. Workers in electronics supplier factories - including those making Apple products - use both chemicals to clean touch screens. Undercover activists from China Labour Watch found the workers doing the job had little to no protective equipment and inadequate safety training.