Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
TL;DR
- A lawsuit has been filed towards Apple after a examine discovered excessive concentrations of poisonous ‘without end chemical substances’ in its watch bands.
- The swimsuit targets the Apple Watch’s Sport, Ocean, and Nike Sport bands.
- These chemical substances can construct up in our our bodies over time and have been linked to quite a lot of well being points.
- Apple has refuted the allegations, saying that Apple Watch bands are protected for customers to put on.
Replace: January 24, 2025 (12:58 AM ET): Apple has reached out to Android Authority with an official assertion relating to the matter and the supplies utilized in Apple Watch bands. Right here’s what the corporate needed to say.
Apple Watch bands are protected for customers to put on. Along with our personal testing, we additionally work with impartial laboratories to conduct rigorous testing and evaluation of the supplies utilized in our merchandise, together with Apple Watch bands.”
In 2022, Apple launched a whitepaper detailing its plan to section out without end chemical substances from its merchandise. On the time, the corporate accepted that a lot of its merchandise contained PFAS and that it will take time to fully section them out.
“It is going to take time for Apple to fully section out PFAS from our merchandise and processes due to the challenges associated to compiling a complete catalog of PFAS use, figuring out and creating non-PFAS alternate options that may meet the efficiency wants for sure crucial purposes, and bearing in mind the time wanted for materials qualification,” Apple wrote within the paper.
The identical yr, Apple additionally launched a toxicological evaluation report for supplies utilized in Apple merchandise, together with the Apple Watch. You’ll be able to learn the in depth report right here, whereby Apple notes the way it conducts inner testing and qualification of supplies utilized in its smartwatches.
Right here’s an official listing of all of the supplies Apple makes use of in all its watches and watch bands.
Unique article: January 23, 2025 (3:32 AM ET): A current examine discovered that smartwatch bands from well-liked manufacturers, together with Apple, comprise excessive concentrations of poisonous ‘without end chemical substances.’ Now, a lawsuit has been filed towards Apple relating to these watch bands.
A lawsuit was filed in California’s Northern District Courtroom (noticed by The Register) and targets three Apple Watch fluoroelastomer bands which are stated to comprise “without end chemical substances.” These bands are the Sport band included with the smartwatch, the Ocean band, and the Nike Sport band that ships with the Apple Watch Nike units.
So what are “without end chemical substances,” then? These are also referred to as PFAS chemical substances (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and are artificial chemical substances that don’t break down simply over time. As an alternative, they construct up in our our bodies and have been linked to elevated danger of particular cancers, weakened immune techniques, developmental delays in youngsters, and hormone disruption. Along with fluoroelastomer watch bands, these poisonous chemical substances have additionally been present in non-stick cookware, mattresses, waterproof garments, and extra.
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Apple isn’t the one smartwatch model to supply bands with without end chemical substances, although. Different offending straps embrace the Pixel Watch 3‘s default watch strap, the Galaxy Watch Sport T-buckle band, and the OnePlus Watch 2’s fluoro-rubber strap. You’ll be able to try our extra complete listing of watch bands with without end chemical substances.
This submitting nonetheless arrives a few years after Apple first pledged to section out these poisonous chemical substances from its merchandise. It additionally comes after a separate swimsuit was filed towards Samsung late final yr for its personal use of without end chemical substances in sure watch straps. Both means, we hope all wearable producers act rapidly to ditch these chemical substances in its merchandise.
