iPods May Be Fire Hazard

October 2007

An urgent alert for iPod users – be careful the next time you carry your portable mp3 player around in your pocket because your pants could go up in flames. A man working at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport felt a warm sensation, and looked down to see his Apple iPod Nano had caught on fire and spread flames from his pants up to his chest.

Luckily, the man escaped the fire incident with no serious injuries. The fire’s source seems to stem from its lithium ion battery, a type of battery known for causing laptop fires. Last year, Dell recalled 4.1 million lithium ion laptop batteries in the single largest consumer electronics recall of all time. Since then, nearly every major brand of lithium ion laptop battery has joined the recall.

This adds another potentially dangerous defect onto the growing list of iPod risks. In May of this year, a study was released that found iPods could cause certain pacemakers to malfunction and even stop working. Some iPod users have also accused the product’s manufacturer, Apple, of promoting hearing loss by allowing the mp3 player volume to be raised to destructive levels.