Katie MarsalApple Computer will be forced to discontinue the sale of several products in Europe next month because they fail to meet compliance with a European Union directive that will go into effect on July 1st, AppleInsider has learned.
Effective July 1, 2006, the directive prohibits the sale of electronics that contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and brominated flame retardants.
"Because of our precautionary approach to substances, Apple was able to meet many of the RoHS restrictions long before the deadline of July 1, 2006," the company said in a statement on its environmental materials Web site.
However, sources tell AppleInsider that a handful of Apple products will not meet all the requirements and will therefore be withdrawn from sale in Europe. These products include the iSight, AirPort Base Station With Modem, AirPort Base Station Power Over Ethernet & Antenna, iPod shuffle External Battery Pack and all versions of the eMac all-in-one desktop computer.
Sources say Apple will not accept new orders for the aforementioned products beyond June 23 in order to assure that all orders ship prior to the RoHS deadline.
Although the products will no longer be available through Apple Europe after June 23, they may continue to be sold in through the company's retail channels for as long as existing inventory lasts, sources added.
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24 Comments
Is it just me, or is it scary that the iSight camera contains so many toxic materials? I actually feel slightly unsafe with it now.
I'm reading from the article that the iSight built into the notebooks and the iMac don't have these hazardous materials that prompted the banned/discontinued products in Europe?
There's nothing really good there except for the Airport, and personally I wouldn't bother with that, you've got Airport Express. And who needs an iSight when they're all built in now?
Maybe..... call me crazy, but does Apple's apparent lack of concern for making the Airport meet the standards indicate that they may refresh the airport soon? When's 802.11n supposed to be out?????
I suspect these products are those which haven't had a design refresh recently enough and/or don't meet the volume requirements to make redesign without toxic materials cost effective.
And let's be real folks they have to stop selling the products if it contains just one of the materials listed, the fact that they have to stop selling them doesn't mean that all the materials are present. Likely they are manufactured with parts that have lead solder in them.
Is it just me, or is it scary that the iSight camera contains so many toxic materials? I actually feel slightly unsafe with it now.
I haven't got jungle rot from it yet... but I know what you mean. My iSight is always looking at me funny.