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News

WASHINGTON, DC – Recent scientific tests have revealed that Apple's iPhone contains hazardous chemicals, says Greenpeace. According to the environmental organization, tests have uncovered two types of hazardous substances,which have already been eliminated by other mobile phone makers.

In May, after thousands participated in the Green my Apple campaign, Steve Jobs claimed, "Apple is ahead of, or will soon be ahead of, most of its competitors" on environmental issues, reports Greenpeace.

The organization says it watched closely when the iPhone was launched in June for any mention of its green features, but none was mentioned. As a result, Greenpeace that month bought an iPhone and sent it to its UK research laboratories. Analysis revealed the iPhone contains toxic brominated compounds (indicating the prescence of brominated flame retardants [BFRs]) and hazardous PVC, says Greenpeace. The findings are detailed in group’s report, "Missed Call: The iPhone's Hazardous Chemicals."

An independent scientific laboratory tested 18 internal and external components of the iPhone and confirmed the presence of brominated compounds in half the samples, including in the phone's antenna, in which they made up 10% of the total weight of the flexible circuit board, says Greenpeace. A mixture of toxic phthalates was found to make up 1.5% of the plastic coating of the headphone cables, the group adds.

Dr. David Santillo, senior scientist at Greenpeace Research Laboratories, commented, "Two of the phthalate plasticisers found at high levels in the headphone cable are classified in Europe as 'toxic to reproduction, category 2' because of their long-recognized ability to interfere with sexual development in mammals. While they are not prohibited in mobile phones, these phthalates are banned from use in all toys or childcare articles sold in Europe. Apple should eliminate the use of these chemicals from its products range."

The disassembling also revealed the iPhone's battery was glued and soldered into the handset. This hinders battery replacement and makes separation for recycling, or appropriate disposal, more difficult, and therefore adds to the burden of electronic waste, Greenpeace believes.

The organization reports Nokia is PVC free, and Motorola and Sony Ericsson already have products on the market with BFR-free components. Apple's competitors have also identified extra toxic chemicals they intend to remove in the future – beyond current minimum legal requirements. Nokia and Sony Ericsson also have global takeback policies for phones and accept responsibility for reuse and recycling.

Apple does not have a global free takeback policy, so the eventual fate of the between four million and 10 million iPhones expected to be sold in its first year is uncertain, concludes Greenpeace.

EDINA, MN -- Jeff Kennedy, director of advanced manufacturing engineering at Celestica Inc., last week received SMTA’s Founder’s Award, the trade group’s highest individual honor.

HIBBING, MN — Kimball Electronics will close its electronics manufacturing plant in Hibbing by next March and lay off some 200 employees, according to local news reports.

MADISON, AL -- STI Electronics, a provider of EMS, training and lab services, plans to break ground soon on a 53,000 sq. ft. building near the company's current location outside Huntsville.

President David Raby told Circuits Assembly the company hopes to move into the new building before 2008.

STI has two SMT lines and offers a host of training programs to industry standards, as well as extensive lab and analysis capabilities.

Ed.: This story was updated Oct. 16. The original story reported that ground had been broken.

BEDFORDSHIRE, UK -- Jaltek Group and Connect Systems International last week signed an agreement to cross-market and manufacture electronics products.

Jaltek offers design and prototype services, while Connect Systems has 19 high-volume SMT lines in plants Europe in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania.

Connect Systems is a member of the IPTE Group, which recently acquired and integrated EMS provider Barco Manufacturing Services Division. It reported fiscal 2006 sales of 170 million euros and employs about 1,700 workers.

Jaltek employs 90 staff across its sites in Bedfordshire, and Wokingham, Berkshire.

NORTHFIELD, IL -- Fewer owners and managers of small manufacturing companies during the third quarter expressed confidence in their business prospects for the next 12 months, the Small Business Research Board reported today. Forty-five percent expect revenues to increase during the next 12 months, a seven point decline sequentially.

SACRAMENTO -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday vetoed a bill that proposed to significantly expand the RoHS statutes mandated by the California Waste Recycling Act.

DALLAS, TX – Integrated Test Corp., manufacturer of automated test equipment for PCBs, has expanded its presence in Asia with a sales and applications office in Taiwan.

This location will service the Pacific Rim, other Asian companies, and offshore operations of existing U.S. customers, Integrated Test says.

FRANKLIN, MA – Speedline Technologies will offer a free Webinar on stencil design and its role in defect reduction and process cycle time improvement.

The Webinar will take place Nov. 15 at 11 a.m. EST.

Areas of discussion will include an overview of the printing process, basics of stencil design, and the impact of design on defect reduction and cycle time. In addition, several “real world” stencil designs successful in eliminating manufacturing defects will be discussed.

To register, visit www.speedlinetech.com/seminars.

LOHJA, FINLAND — An Elcoteq subsidiary today signed a deal to sell its manufacturing facility here to Sponda Kiinteistörahasto for 6.3 million euros. The transaction will be executed as a real estate deal, with ownership being transferred from the subsidiary, Kiinteistö Oy Piiharju, to Sponda by Oct. 31.

INDIANAPOLIS – Specialty Coating Systems has completed its acquisition of Parylene Japan K.K.

The deal was finalized Sept. 14.

SCS will do business in Japan as Parylene Japan Inc. (Nihon Parylene Kabushiki Gaisha) and will continue to be led by president Eddie Narita.

The 10,000 sq.-ft. Tokyo facility is ISO 9001:2000 certified and includes two Class 10K cleanrooms.

PJKK, a joint venture between SCS and Three Bond Co. Ltd., was established in 1990 to provide Parylene conformal coating services and technologies in Japan.

ORLANDO – Celestica Inc. was honored with three awards from the SMTA this week in Orlando. The awards recognize Celestica's technology leadership and contribution to the SMTA's technical education and collaboration initiatives.

Celestica was presented with the SMTA Corporate Partnership Award in recognition of its support of the association's global technical and certification programs. Celestica is the only company to have won the award twice.

Engineering principal Jeff Kennedy accepted the Founders Award for contributions to the industry and the SMTA. Since joining the SMTA in 1988, Kennedy has been a local chapter driver and has been involved in national SMTA conferences as a speaker and chairman. He also launched and chaired the association's Medical Electronics Conference during its first two years.

Heather McCormick, process development engineering advisor, received an award for the Best International Paper of the 2006 conference proceedings. The award recognized “Mixing Metallurgy: Reliability of Tin-silver-copper (SAC) Balled Area Array Packages Assembled Using Tin-lead (SnPB) Solder.” The paper was written by McCormick and co-authors Simin Bagheri, Polina Snugovsky, Craig Hamilton, Zohreh Bagheri, George Riccitelli and Ramesh Mohabir.