In what appears to be a slight slap on the wrist, Apple is being forced to pull various products from the European Union for various violations of the ROHS standards. The standards, which define which materials can be used to manufacture devices, are intended to allow only a minimal amount of certain harmful chemicals into the environment. This is done to protect both the health of the people who use the products, as well as the environment once the products are disposed of.

While Apple was aware of a July 1st, 2006 deadline and was able to bring many products into compliance, some of their products were not. In particular, the iSight, various components of the AirPort products, iPod shuffle External Battery Pack and the entire eMac line of computers have been barred. Orders for these devices are already not being accepted in EU countries, though existing supplies in retail inventories may still be sold until they run out. Apple will likely modify the products in the future to resume sales, as it is both beneficial to their sales base and to their public image to do such.