Macopinion

The Road Warrior Mailbag - June 18, 2007

Chemical Sensitivity Evidently Being Ignored In "Green Computing" Strategies
Microwaves in old computers?
Mac smell
Sizing Up The New Revision C MacBook Pros
Re: Sizing Up The New Revision C MacBook Pros
Keyboards with trackpads
Sizing Up The New Revision C MacBook Pros

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Chemical Sensitivity Evidently Being Ignored In "Green Computing" Strategies

From AC

Well, as a chemistry/philo lecturer who suffers from asthma and sensitivity to various chemicals, I feel qualified to ask some questions.

1) Can we determine what the correlation level is between outgassing of specific chemicals and your reaction to them?

2) What would be the economic effect of ensuring that 99% of all computing machines have no significant effect on people like us?

I'm afraid that the problem is insurmountable, except for the rich, and I'm not rich enough.

___ Hi AC;

1) It would be a challenge. I know empirically, that at some point the level of off-gassing diminishes to the point where I no longer have physical reactions. I presume that using gas chromatography in a controlled environment over a long period of sporadic sampling, it would be possible to establish the "threshold" safe level - for one individual. Not very practiacl though.

A more useful approach would be to determine which circuit board and other plastic materials are more or less problematical for the chemically-sensitive. For example, while the original WallStreet PowerBooks, which were built in Cork, Ireland, did have an odor when they were new, I didn't react to them. I used a demo 233 MHz "MainStreet" for production for a couple of months in late 1998, and experienced no problems, However, the Taiwan-built 233 MHz WallStreet "PDQ" machine that I purchased in January, 1999 had a completely different circuit board odor, that make me quite ill upon even short exposures. My deduction is that a different chemical formulation was used in the circuit boards of the Taiwanese units. It was 3 1/2 years before I could use the WallStreet as a proper laptop without wearing a charcoal respirator.

On the other hand, my PowerBook 5300 (made in Mountain View, Ca.) was benign from day one, and it's not a factor of the older machine running cooler. My WallStreet when new would make me sick even when it was not running and cool. Ditto for my G3 iBook when it was new. The difference had to be in the composition of the plastics used.

Another example is a couple of (land line) telephones I bought about eight months apart. They were the same brand, and quite similar in form factor. The first one gave me no trouble right out of the box. The second one reeked badly of circuit board odor, to a degree that I couldn't use it without becoming ill. It eventually did gas off, but it took about 4-5 years to become tolerable for me.

2) Ergo; it seems to me that while 100 percent tolerability is almost certainly unattainable within the bounds of cost-effectiveness, I'm inclined to think that if some attention was paid to specifying lower-odor plastics in circuit boards (and other plastic components), life could be a lot easier for us "canaries." Such less-offensive materials obviously exist, and seem to meet the engineering requirements.

Charles

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Re: Chemical Sensitivity Evidently Being Ignored In "Green Computing" Strategies

From AC

Hi Charles,

Frustrating, isn't it? However, I'm inclined to believe (in a rather resigned sort of way) that technology is all about creating more comfortable and effective lives while making some people less comfortable and effective. It's like the cost of industrialisation in third-world countries vs global warming and farm subsidies in the first world.

I do believe that you are right in that materials can be found which can be processed without using or producing those chemicals. I'm not so sanguine that better computing experience (flatter screens, higher-density chips) will not eventually result in more of the same. I remember taking a rather schizophrenic course on Industrial Chemistry in which part of the course was on environmental chem and other modules were on petrochemicals, plastics, and toxicology. The lecturer concluded with an aside on Paracelsus and the bottom line: all things are poisons, but it is the acceptable dose for a majority which matters to society.

One thing good though, I thoroughly enjoyed your article. Having had similar experiences (including hives, joint swellings, and migraines!) it is always nice to hear from fellow sufferers.

Cheers!

AC

___

Hi AC;

I think we're pretty much on the same page philosophically. In his excellent book "The Arrogance of Humanism," David Ehrenfeld makes an observation to the effect that in our technocratic culture most "solutions" to problems ultimately create seven or so subsidiary problems, often worse than the initial difficulty.

For me it's a dichotomy. Without computers, given my severe chemical sensitivities, it would be difficult for me to make a living. I wouldn't want to work eight hours a day wearing a charcoal respirator, which I'm obliged to in most uncontrolled indoor and many outdoor environments. On the other hand, computers (at least newer ones) introduce chemical pollution to my controlled environment.

Charles

***

Microwaves in old computers?

From Hetty

Hi, I am a Principal of a small Primary School in NSW Australia. You may be able to help me with a concern. One of my teachers has in his/her classroom 27 Classic Computers. They're the old small compact unit built by Apple around 1988.

These computers are left on all day, the room gets hotter than the other classrooms, and a parent has expressed his/her fear that these computers are emitting microwaves.

After reading your article about your own experiences, I believe there would be children who are having chemical reactions to the plastics used. Do you know about any microwaves that could cause danger to the students.

Kind regards
Hetty

___

Hi Hetty;

As you're no doubt aware, the topic of danger or health risk associated with electromagnetic radiation from computers, cellphones, and other electronic devices is highly controversial.

Those old Mac Classics certainly are not shielded as well as more modern computers, and personally, speaking as a layman, I would be uncomfortable with having a child of mine spending frequent time in a classroom with 27 running Mac Classics. With cathode ray tubes, electromagnetic emissions tend to be considerably higher at the sides and back of the unit than the user is subjected to, which is a particular issue of concern in a classroom environment.

Microwaves are not the only low-level electromagnetic frequency (EMF) hazard. I don't think these old computers would be producing microwaves per se, but they will certainly be emitting EMFs to some degree.

An EMF is a force field composed of electric and magnetic fields that radiate outward from an electric current. EMF can be any type of radiation from the electromagnetic spectrum, which ranges from long wavelength radio waves to short wavelength X-rays and gamma rays.

The shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency of the radiation and the greater the damage it inflicts upon everything, including humans. Some studies on the effects of EMF on health indicate that it causes cancers, childhood leukemia, Alzheimer's and birth defects.

According to this article:
http://www.mercola.com/article/emf/emf_dangers.htm

"Dr. David Carpenter, Dean at the School of Public Health, State University of New York believes it is likely that up to 30% of all childhood cancers come from exposure to EMFs."

The article contains a lot of information and advice from a precautionary principle perspective.

There is also the issue of electrosensitivity - some folks are (or can become through exposure) hypersensitive to relatively small (and considered "safe") levels of EMF radiation.

On the other hand, those old Classics should be well and truly gassed of by now, and I wouldn't worry about chemical emissions, although they're from an era when toxic brominated flame retardants were widely used in computer housings, the most problematical being a form of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) called deca-BDE - which create a microscopic dust as the plastic breaks down that is a suspected carcinogen and mutagen. All exposures, no matter how small, are of concern because deca-BDE is a bioaccumulative substance. This means that multiple exposures to low levels of deca-BDE add up over time and build up in the body. Brominated flame retardants (BFRs), especially PBDEs, are persistent in the environment and contaminate the food chain, building up in the body tissues of animals, and people. Research has revealed that women in North America have the highest levels globally of these chemicals in their breast milk and evidence continues to mount about their effect on the neurological and endocrine systems. These levels are reportedly doubling every two to five years in the North American population.

Both Apple and Dell stopped using PBDE flame retardants in 2002, and Apple's shift to metal computer cases obviously addresses that issue effectively,

Charles

***

Mac smell

From Alan Muskat

Hi Charles,

I got my refurb revB MacBook and though it didn't smell much (in my opinion), I put it on my dehydrator outside, open and face down (like an inverted "V" for a few hours at 145º (which didn't bring the laptop above 110º because it wasn't super hot to the touch) and it didn't smell after that at all (as far as I can tell).

I downloaded ilisten 7 and plan to try it out this week.

Thanks for your help,

Alan

PS. I picked up an old Apple adjustable keyboard and looked for an ADB to USB adapter and found the imate and noticed this link is dead:

"For a comprehensive list of compatible devices, including mice, trackballs, keyboards, barcode readers, tablets and touchscreens, hardware dongles, and more, see this list on Griffin's website."

http://lowendmac.com/misc/03/0324.html

Imates are running $30-40:
http://www.sortprice.com/search?q=imate+griffin&c=

However, it won't work with any OS newer than Jaguar:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imate/

This is discussed at:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/11565

___ Hi Alan;

Thanks for the report and information.

Somewhat encouraging news about the smell of your MacBook.

I don't have a very good sense of smell, and I can't smell my 17" PowerBook, although my wife says she notices the odor when she comes in the office if it's out of its case. However, it does make me ill, and she says it gives her headaches, although she does not suffer from Multiple Chamical Sensitivities like I do.

I hadn't noted the post-Jaguar limitation with the iMate previously. I have an iMate, but I guess I haven't used it much since Classic days.

Charles

***

Sizing Up The New Revision C MacBook Pros

From Bob

Your article says "The new 15" MacBook Pro is the industry's first notebook to ship with an LED backlit display," but that's wrong:

http://www.siliconpopculture.com/blog/comments/sony_vaio_tx_series/

___

Hi Bob;

Thanks. I stand corrected. Apple was claiming an "industry first." Guess they mean in full-size notebooks. I've added the "full-sized" qualifier to the article reference.

Charles

***

Re: Sizing Up The New Revision C MacBook Pros

From Tom

Apple indeed referred to the more "standard" size 15" size. Sony's is much smaller. These things are expensive, which is why there is still no 17" shipping.

***

Keyboards with trackpads

From Jacek A. Rochacki

Hi, Charles:

I have returned to use quite often my Wallstreeet II aka PDQ PowerBook; by happy coincidence I have got for literaly a few pennies two original Wallstreet processor cards: 266 MHz and 300 MHz.

The 300 Mhz was missing this round element and frame which is fixed on top of the processor chip in order to cool the processor - to transfer the heat to metal heat shield, but I have removed these parts from another, broken processor card, fixed them in my processor card, and now I enjoy the speed of 300 Mhz processor.

And I have finally managed to connect my Wallstreet - still under OS 9.1, by PCMCIA Orinoco Silver WiFi card to internet as well as to my internal home net, that I have made by my AirPort Express access point, so now all my three laptops: Little Al, Pismo and Wallstreet talk one to anopther. T

he old Wallstreet is in the service again due to it's suberb keyboard, as I have no use for external keyboards with mouse when typing seated at the armchair. The letters are gone from the second keyboard of the Little Al...so let me ask you a question: have you ever heard of an external keyboard with trackpad built into such keyboard? - something, that I could keep on my lap, and use for operating Little Al, that I would place at speccial stand by my armchair?

It would have to be USB or wireless - BlueTooth, I believe.

With my best
Jacek

___

Hi Jacek;

Thanks for the report.

For USB keyboards with track pads or trackballs, see:

http://www.nextag.com/usb-keyboard-touchpad/search-html

http://www.fentek-ind.com/trackball-keyboard.htm

http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/marketdisp.html?PartNo=734462"> http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/marketdisp.html?PartNo=734462

http://www.amazon.com/Adesso-Black-Keyboard-Glidepoint-Touchpad/dp/B00008XOH6

Charles

___

Keyboards with trackpads From Jacek A. Rochacki

The links to keyboards with track pads are most interesting. I will continue further investigation in order to find out, which of such keyboards cooperates with Mac best. Or maybe it would be possible to ask the readerland for advice ? Maybe someone of your readers uses such keyboard with his or her Mac ?

With kindest regards

As always

Jacek

___

Hi Jacek;

Some of the 'boards at the links I cited are of course PC-oriented. They will work with the Mac, but you have to adjust to PC-labeled keys.

However, Adesso has been making Mac versions of their keyboards for a long time, and have offered keyboards with touchpads since ADB days.

Amazon.com has them:
http://www.amazon.com/Tru-Form-Contoured-Ergonomic-Keyboard-EKB-2150W/dp/B0000TW3NI

There are some good discounts here (scroll down): http://www.totalergonomics.com/products.php?cat_id=2

However, unfortunately, they don't seem to list the Tru-Form Mac keyboard with touchpad, although there's a PC model with touchpad.

Charles

Sizing Up The New Revision C MacBook Pros

From Bill Chan

Thanks, these things are expensive, I do not think now is a ideal time to buy this.

*** cmoore@macopinion.com

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