Apple users shocked after learning official device contains chemicals that cause birth defects and cancer

Apple fans are shocked after learning that a device sold by the tech giant contains chemicals known to cause birth defects and cancer.

The $100 Belkin BoostCharge Pro magnetic charging power bank has a warning on the Apple page for the accessory, hidden at the bottom, that is required by California state regulators due to its dangerous contents.

California required the product to carry a warning warning consumers that this wireless charger may “expose you to chemicals, including bisphenol A (BPA). »

BPA, a chemical commonly used to help harden plastics, is known to disrupt hormones in the bodyprovoking fertility problems, sexual development and other problems.

This warning is due to California’s Proposition 65, passed in 1986, which has long required companies to alert consumers to the risks of BPA in their products.

The warning left nervous Apple fans wondering, “Should I be worried about this?”

The Apple-approved Belkin wireless charger joins the growing ranks of consumer goods contaminated with this hormone-mimicking chemical, including everything from water bottles and trash bags to dishes, carpet and more. even more.

“Holding the case with sweaty hands could lead to some getting sucked in,” a consumer rights advocate warned a nervous Apple customer online.

Although Prop65 is the strictest law of its kind in the United States, the legislation is a modest step from regulations in the European Union, where BPA is banned in food packaging intended for young children – with a total ban now under debate on the continent. .

Studies conducted since at least 2018 using human skin cell cultures have actually shown that up to 16-20% of BPA excreted from a consumer product can be absorbed and biologically available through contact with human skin.

“BPA is potentially capable of causing adverse health effects following skin contact,” according to an analysis by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Other Apple accessories, including plastic iPhone cases, have also worried consumers because of identical notices warning about BPA content.

“I’m looking for a new iPhone case and came across one that I really liked,” one user told the r/Chemistry forum on Reddit, “but looking at the specs at the bottom of the page it noted that the product contained bisphenol UN.’

“Should I be worried about this or find another case without this chemical?” » » asked the user.

Nervous consumers have hotly debated the issue, with some dismissing California’s regulations as overkill and others saying they don’t go far enough.

“You can absolutely absorb BPA through your skin,” one said. “If you don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t say anything.”

Apple product page for the Belkin Wireless Charger Pack, designed to work with MagSafe-compatible iPhones show the device secured in a charcoal black plastic shell.

The device, approximately four inches long and three inches wide, houses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery used to extend the battery life of an iPhone worldwide.

Even industry-suggested alternatives to BPA — bisphenol S (BPS) and bisphenol F (BPF) — behave almost identically to the dangerous chemical they are intended to replace, according to scientists who have studied the issue.

“The use of these bisphenols should be discontinued due to the risks they may pose to human and animal health,” said biochemist José Villalaín, a professor at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche in Spain.

Villalaín published his findings in the Journal of Xenobiotics last September.

Some Apple users and others debating how best to respond to California’s warnings have railed against the gap between U.S. regulations on such chemicals and stricter consumer and public protections abroad.

“Most countries would ban potentially carcinogenic substances, but in America all you have to do is put a cancer warning on it,” lamented another Reddit user, who goes by the name Old_Impact_3818.

“Often it will be in the fine print at the bottom of the box that something comes in and you’ll never even see it.”