Hot iPods Get Attention of Consumer Product Safety Commission

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Complaints about iPods overheating have now caught the attention of the Consumer Products Safety Commission. After a few years of complaints about iPods that grow so hot they can burn individuals as well as catch on fire, the federal agency will begin investigating the problem. Some believe that the iPod problem concerns the device’s lithium batteries which have had a history of overheating and catching on fire in other electronic equipment such as computers.
The CPSC will be reviewing 18 incidents, including the following:
In 2002, an iPod in a 14-year-old Michigan boy’s bedroom set off a smoke alarm in the middle of the night.
In 2006, an iPod started smoking and sparking in the middle of the night at one Illinois residence. It was so hot that it burned the stereo it was sitting on.
In 2007, a 4-inch flame shot out of an iPod while it was charging in Washington, D.C.
Also in 2007, a man’s shirt caught fire in Atlanta when the iPod in his pocket overheated.
Other cases were reported in New York, Washington state and Portland, Ore.

Jared Green
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