A recent chemical analysis of dozens of models of smartphones reveals a hidden and ugly truth about our favorite tech. A collaborative report from HealthyStuff and ifixit.org reveals just what sort of chemical mess is inside your iOS and Android wonders out there. Just who makes the least and most toxic smartphones? Read on.
At the top of a long list of toxic technological toy/tools people carry around, the old iPhone 2G and the Palm m125 both contain a veritable miniaturized toxic waste dump of elements.The testers at ifixit used X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to test and rank 36 cell phone models from the above mentioned ones to the most recent iPhone, Galaxy, Motorola and other entries. Using a ranking scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the devices with the most alarming levels of toxins, the testers established some interesting (and some alarming) facts.
The good news is, in general smartphones are getting to be a good bit more user friendly where toxicity goes. It may interest readers to know the iPhone 4S and even iPhone 5 are far “cleaner” chemistry wise than their predecessors. The chart below, courtesy ifixit.org, shows the trend.
