Wintek, who supplies touchscreen components to Apple for the iPhone and iPod touch, just got "exposed" for "hazardous work conditions." One of the most severe conditions? N-hexane poisoning, which the company illegally used instead of alcohol to clean screens.
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In August of 2009, 49 people were treated for N-hexane poisoning, with one dead. The BoingBoing post says that the worker died this weekend, so it seems like Wintek continued to use N-hexane even after they were punished from last year. [China Tech News via BoingBoing]
DISCUSSION
What is the main reason for using n-hexane over alcohol? Is it a better cleanser/degreaser or is it cheaper? It seems like they were pretty intent on keeping on using it so there must have been a reason why the decided the could.