first of all happy new year! As I am exicted to get the new FP2 these days I looked at some video reviews of the phone. The rubber band around the phone was mentioned quite some times to help holding it firmly. Since I try to avoid products that you hold with rubber or rubber like surfaces due to a lot of negative headlines - the most known was a rubber handle on a hammer caused the user to absorb the content of several 1000 cigarettes / h - I’d like to ask about the content of the FP2 rubber.
Do you have any certificates or test regarding PAH values or other dangerous plasticizers commonly used in syntetic rubber?
Thanks for sheding light on that, keep up the good and transparant work!
Well, that’s indeed a very important question. I don’t believe that there is a health harming amount of dangerous substances in that material (because that wouldn’t be fair to us as well as the workers who produce these parts ), but I also would like to know if there’s any at all.
I myself try to avoid those substances completely. I don’t like them being there, even if their legally allowed maximum amount is not exceeded. In most parts of my life it’s possible by avoiding plastics and synthetics at all. But electronics without any plastic parts are hard to find.
I also would love to see an official statement/certificate about potentially health harming materials in those parts of the phone one can touch with his hand.
That could be hard. Since it’s recycled rubber, it can be hard to know what’s in it. This is entirely dependent on the waste that was recycled to make the rubber…
I read somewhere that Fairphone refrained from using chemicals to smooth the surface of the back cover. That’s why it is not as smooth and shiny as other smartphones, but more non-slip.
I have heard two contrary opinions about not using “paint” on the back cover:
a) It is worse because it is scratching more easily because of no protective “paint”
b) It is better because the when the “paint” wear off, you will get an ugly two-colour back case. So, you still have just one colour.
Usually the problematic parts are the soft ones, not the hard surfaces. E.e. the majority of tested baby strollers have rubber handles with highly problematic substances.
Therefore I would really like a fairphone team member to give us any details available about the rubber band origin or manufacturing process. Best would be tests made of rubber band samples directly in the nederlands.
Not that the phone only better for the workers but worse for the customers than non rubber-containing phones
If you want information about that from a Fairphone member, it might be better to directly contact the FP team as this a community forum and the FP team is not following each and every topic here.
), but I also would like to know if there’s any at all.