Health risks of second hand smoke voids Apple warranty

US based Apple customers face having AppleCare warranties made void due to the "health risks of second hand smoke" according to a report.

Consumerist, a website that "empowers consumers by informing and entertaining them about the top consumer issues of the day", claims Apple employees have highlighted the dangers of secondhand smoke in refusing to repair faulty Macs.

The website quotes Derek, who took his black mid 2007 Apple MacBook into the Jordan Creek Apple Store in West Des Moines, Iowa for repair, having experienced some issues with it overheating.

"The Apple store called and informed me that due to the computer having been used in a house where there was smoking, that has voided the warranty and they refuse to work on the machine, due to "health risks of second hand smoke," writes Derek.

The AppleCare Protection Plan covers a Mac for up to three years from your computer's original purchase date.

Consumerist reader Ruth tells a similar story.

"I bought an iMac for my son (for school) along with the extended AppleCare warranty. A month ago, it quit working. My son took it to the authorised Mac service center. The "tech" informed him it would be ready in 48-72 hours. Five days go by and he's heard nothing, so I called. They informed me that his computer can't be worked on because it's contaminated," Ruth writes.

"When I asked for an explanation, she said he's a smoker and it's contaminated with cigarette smoke which they consider a bio-hazard! I checked my AppleCare warranty and it says nothing about not honouring warranties if the owner is a smoker. The AppleCare representative said they defer to the technician and my son's computer cannot be fixed at any Apple Service Center due to being listed a bio-hazard."

Apple reportedly cited Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, a US federal agency charged with the enforcement of safety and health legislation, insisting nicotine is on OSHA's list of hazardous substances.

Letter's to Steve Jobs's office went unanswered while Consumerist add they have failed repeatedly to obtain comment from Apple's media relations department. "We're curious what the threshold is for smoke damage to a computer, and why this is not mentioned in the Applecare contract," the campaigning website adds.

Secondhand smoke is classified as a "known human carcinogen" (cancer-causing agent) by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US National Toxicology Program, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organisation.

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds. More than 60 of these are known or suspected to cause cancer.

Pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke are also at increased risk of having low birth-weight babies, while secondhand smoke may be linked to breast cancer warns the ACS.