We wanted to know exactly how much progress had been made on
toxics in laptops in the last year. 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 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, and Dell laptops had the highest. 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