"Funny" to see this come out on the day when AAPL dropped like crazy! And I wonder how much worse this is than 2nd hand smoke and all other stuff out there, besides stress, bad fats, sugar, money worries to name a few! Hope you got cash and bought AAPL on the cheap!

What drugs are they on? How stupid can we get? I'm just shaking my head in disbelief....

When I first read the article I was interested in finding out more about the issue. As soon as I read the the labratory was one recommended by Greepeace I began to get suspicious. And then reading that the analysis was "qualitative, not quantititive" I lost all interest. It's ashame really. There might be a serious issue here, but because of the total lack of credibility of the groups involved we (including me) will totally dismiss it.

Why would you go through all the trouble and expense of conducting an 8-day test and not quantifiy what you found? The only rational reason for doing so would be if you knew all along that the levels wouldn't be high enough to be of real concern, but you wanted to create controversy to get another 15 minutes of fame.

MacNN continues with their fabulous editing...

We get exposed to a lot of chemicals on a daily basis, both natural and manmade. As I commented on the Macbidule article every electronic device lets off some toxic fumes, especially when new. Why on earth Apple's machine would be any different just floors me. Do they expect Apple is making their machines from flax seed and snail-trails? If the odor is so strong that you're getting light headed from a computer you REALLY need to improve the fresh air circulation, preferably from an open window that faces a busy street. I'd lay odds that the air inside a car while driving is many times more toxic than what a computer gives off yet we all drive without a care about it. :/

These greeners won't be happy until we're all wearing loincloths and trading seashells.

for MacNN to post an update to this article to correct their shabby journalism? MAC PRO != MACBOOK PRO

and for the researchers, get your nose off my grill!

Considering the French lack of concern over hygiene, I doubt if the Mac smells any worse than this guy. I'll bet he's a heavy smoker too. Which is more toxic?

Simply FUD for the chemistry illiterate masses. GC/MS can detect vanishingly low levels of chemicals. I would be amazed if they didn't detect a bunch of things. If they tested an apple (the fruit kind) they'd detect toxic chemicals, too. (Ripening fruit gives off ethylene, a toxic gas at high enough levels.) The names of some of the detected materials isn't even correctly reported in the MacNN article. There is no such thing as "ethanone." The name implies a two carbon ketone, which is an impossibility. (Read the original Analytika report for the correct names.) "Propanone" is more commonly known as acetone, which is the solvent in nail polish remover, and can be bought by the quart at Home Depot. Flammable, but otherwise pretty tame stuff. Acetic acid in water is vinegar. "Benzene" was not one of the chemicals detected (despite MacNN's erroneous reporting), only certain benzene derivatives. Totally different thing, with totally different properties. (Phenylalanine, for example, is a "benzene"-containing compound but is an essential amino acid. It's in any food containing protein. You can't live without it.)

The term of "toxic levels" is easily misused. The 10 ppm limit (for benzene, not detected by the way) cited by the ACS may be an 8 hour TWA (threshold weighted average), which means that level exposure constantly over an eight hour working day. Shorter exposure is not considered harmful (or longer exposure at lower levels). Without reporting the limit in context, it's meaningless. A glass of mineral water could be labeled "deadly" too. (If you do the wrong thing with it, like inhale it, it can kill.)

People who claim to be made sick by vapors from their computers are probably having a psychosomatic reaction. There's always someone....

Slow news day, I guess.

1 - Unsure if laptop new or not, likely breakdown of chemical residual used in chip process, but cannot r/o thermal effects on substandard components - country usually involved not named.
2 - Acetic acid is the main ingredient in vinegar.
3 - Amounts are important, also the ambient levels of toxins where testing performed.
4 - There may be a problem with the laptops - I suspect some type of contaminant from cleaning the MB or video card

The guy is living in Fwance, he should relocate to the U.S and the smell will go away.

Thank God they didn't detect any ascorbic acid!! Now that would have been scary!! (pheew!)

My Macbook Pro (serial: W86151HEVJ3) stinks a lot, and since I’m using it, I’ve almost completly lost my sense of smell and taste since about 1 year. Neither doctors nor medicaments could help.
Before I read these articles, I already presumed that it could be the cause of my disease but now I begin to believe that my computer is guilty.
What can I do? Should I contact Apple?
Thank you in advance for your advice