CNN Warns Eating Your iPhone May Be Hazardous to Your Health

Photo of Jeff Poor.
By Jeff Poor (Bio | Archive)
November 9, 2007 - 15:49 ET

How do you like your iPod earbud cord – scrambled, sunny-side up or over-easy?

That sounds like a weird question, but apparently CNN’s “American Morning” thinks eating your iPhone or earphone cord is a possibility.

In a segment with an on-screen caption – “IPOD & IPHONE DANGER – CAN THEY HURT YOU?” – CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported that the cord connecting the earbuds to your iPod contain phthalates, according to the litigious Center for Environmental Health.

Phthalates are a substance often used for increasing the flexibility of plastics, but according to an article on macnn.com, a Web site devoted to news on Apple products, phthalates “may hinder the sexual development of mammals.”

See YouTube video below.

Gupta also reported the environmental extremist group Greenpeace had dismantled an iPhone and found traces of bromides and phthalates. No statement from Apple was included in Gupta’s segment, but he did briefly state that Apple intends to end the use of bromides by the end of 2008.

Gupta didn’t say that using an iPod or an iPhone as intended would be dangerous though.

“[N]ot such good news for Apple there. But again, remember, as we've been talking about, it’s really hard to quantify just how much of a risk these phthalates are,” Gupta said “Most of the studies have been done on animals. There’s not a human trials that actually show that they might be harmful, but a lot of people worried about it nonetheless.”

Gupta also said most of the studies have been done on rodents so he couldn’t say if these chemicals were something that could cross through skin or if they were something you would have to inhale or ingest to pose a risk.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has pledged to stop using these chemicals in their products according to the Macworld Web site.

“So the immediate takeaway is, don’t eat your iPhone or your earbuds?” asked Roberts.

“Or breathe it in,” Gupta replied.


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So "eating the earbuds may

November 9, 2007 - 16:17 ET by WhoIsJohnGalt

So "eating the earbuds may hinder sexual development"?

Sounds like natural selection to me...

Whew! Am I glad I saw this

November 9, 2007 - 16:20 ET by bws53

Whew! Am I glad I saw this in time! Looks like I'll be scrambling to find another entree for my dinner party tonight! Thanks C(ommie)NN!

Perhaps I'll opt for some Chilean Sea Bass, an Al Gore favorite. 

OM freekin GAWD!

November 9, 2007 - 16:31 ET by Six String Spiff

If people are going to be STUPID enough to put things in their mouths that don't belong, then screw 'em. I am sick and friggin tired of paying for DUMBASSES.

The next question is when does the first lawsuit get filed?

Idiots...

Islamic Religious Services Will Be Held at the Firing Range At 0800 Daily.

What in the world is

November 9, 2007 - 16:40 ET by bigtimer

What in the world is happening to self-responsibility?

Parental responsibility in some cases with all these recalls...

I give up, what a sissified trial lawyer nation we have become.

This is absolutely nuts....with all the troubles in the world to-boot. 

No warning!

November 9, 2007 - 16:57 ET by heldmyw

I have long been a foe of nanny state warning labels. I view the lack of common sense most of them seem to compensate for is hindering natural selection.

For instance: Ambien - May cause drowsiness... Um. No S***?

On blowdryer: Do not use electrical appliances in the bathtub.

Lawnmower: Caution! Do not insert hands in chute when motor is running...

On a curling iron: Warning! Do not insert in any orifice. (This one gave me pause... I'm sure someone was trying to curl their nose hair or something, and I ain't goin' no where else with this.)

I say we should put an end to warning labels. Fingerless, burn-scarred, sleepwalkers SHOULD end their days making toast in the tub. Let them be marked with the badge of stoopid!

Last one.

When I lived in San Francisco, a tsunami was predicted. The police had to go down to the beach and clear off about 1500 people who showed up to see it.

I woulda left 'em. You know they went home and tried to reproduce... <sigh>.

 

 

 

 

 

LOL... Your story about

November 9, 2007 - 16:59 ET by Clear thinker

LOL...

Your story about San Fran has me crying with laughter! 

Get Email updates from Fred http://socialnet.imwithfred.com/email_alert_july_26.html

Hands down, funniest post of the day! ROFL!

November 9, 2007 - 17:08 ET by MightyMouth

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Perhaps they thought it was

November 9, 2007 - 17:46 ET by Dan The Man 2

Perhaps they thought it was a Japanese rock group?  I have been known to surf in hurricanes; man in Texas it is awsome surf during a hurricane.  The only time I actually surfed inside a tube.  That said it was stupid, and I realized that the day I went through teh eye of a hurricane while surfing.  There was no surf as I remember it 37 years ago, in fact it was glassy smooth and frightening.  That ended my hurrican surf days.

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

This just in...

November 9, 2007 - 18:02 ET by scamorama

Saw on the "news" last night a new "study" that found that vanity license plates will cause your vehicle to be noticed.

Might save your life if you're eating your iPhone at the time... 

That does make one

November 9, 2007 - 20:54 ET by lbcdawn

That does make one wonder.. if your vanity plates cause you to be noticed will folks drive past you see you chewing and stare (like you do when some guy is diggin in his nose) possible causing an accident. Would those involved in said accident be eligible to sue iphone makers for causing a safety hazard? on the other hand this could help fight *global warming* make ear buds in cool flavors and disable the ability to reproduce thereby creating less ozone depleting humanoids.

~lbcdawn Religion is about doing. Christianity is about done.

Wh...huh...what?

November 9, 2007 - 18:53 ET by slayerwatcher

This is a joke, right?  I've never liked that Sanjay Gupta guy.  He's a damn fool if you ask me.

snickering with my wireless headset...

November 9, 2007 - 20:45 ET by lbcdawn

Ha i'm safe I put the earpiece in my ear not my nose... too funny his repeatedly saying *or sniffing it*. What if we don't inhale? Now I don't know either of these jokers but it seemed like the reporter was mocking and Gupta didn't get it.

~lbcdawn Religion is about doing. Christianity is about done.

breaking news on cnn

November 10, 2007 - 13:41 ET by lunaticcringeradio

here's some more cnn everyone needs to know helpful reports that will follow up the eating an iphone cords may be hazardous.

hammering a nail through your hand can hurt.

falling from a high place can hurt.

pissing on a 240v electrical outlet is dangerous.

you could chip a tooth if you eat a brick.

broken glass can cut you.

you can't change a fan belt on a car while the engine is running, it's like a machine or something, you can't stop it.

if you kick a strange dog it might bite you.

using rat poison or draino as a condiment, although you may like the taste, does not lower your hdl colesterol.

who the hell needs to be told that eating an iphone cord is not a good thing.............ooops never minds i forgot about the liberals out there.

lunaticcringeradio