Substance
Year
Comments
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
1978
Prohibited from use in products (Initiated phased approach for elimination in 1974. Achieved by year-end 1978.)
Trichloroethylene
Late 1980s
Eliminated from use in development and manufacturing processes
Ozone depleting chemicals
1990
Prohibited as expansion agents used in packaging
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)
1990
Prohibited from use in packaging
Heavy metals, including lead (Pb), hexavalent chromium and mercury
1990
Prohibited from use in packaging
Class I ozone depleting chemicals
1993
Eliminated from use in development and manufacturing processes, and prohibited from use in products
Asbestos
1993
Prohibited from use in products
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)
1993
Prohibited from use in products
Lead (Pb)
1993
Prohibited from use in plastic housings and paints
Hexavalent chromium
1993
Prohibited in inks, dyes, pigments and paints used for IBM products
Mercury
1993
Prohibited from use in IBM parts or assemblies. Specific exemptions (e.g., lamps) were added in 1999.
Cadmium
1993
Prohibited from use in inks, dyes, pigments and paints
Cadmium
1994
Prohibited from use in plastics and plating
Class II ozone depleting chemicals
1995
Eliminated from use in development and manufacturing processes, and prohibited from use in products
Ethylene-based glycol ethers
Mid-1990s
Eliminated from use in development and manufacturing processes
Polyvinyl chloride
Mid-1990s
Prohibited from use in packaging
Cadmium
Mid-1990s
Prohibited from use: cadmium sulfide for phosphorescence in CRT monitors, and nickel cadmium batteries in notebook computers
Lead (Pb)
1999
Prohibited from use in plastic resins
Tetrachloroethene
2002
Eliminated 99.5% of the use in development and manufacturing processes. Prohibited from new applications.
Hexavalent chromium
2002
Prohibited from plastic resins
Dichloromethane
2003
Eliminated from use in development and manufacturing processes
Specific perfluorinated compounds (PFOS and PFOA)
2005
Prohibited the development of new materials with these compounds
Polyvinyl chloride
2007
Prohibited from system enclosure parts in new products after 2007
Tetrabromobisphenol A
2007
Prohibited as an additive flame retardant in system enclosure parts for new products after 2007
Specific perfluorinated compounds (PFOS and PFOA)
2007
Prohibited from new IBM manufacturing, development and research processes
Specific perfluorinated compounds (PFOS and PFOA)
2010
Eliminated from use in manufacturing, development and research processes as of January 31, 2010
Indium and indium compounds
2017
In 2017, IBM developed, peer-reviewed, and adopted a new internal Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL) for indium and indium compounds after a team of IBM toxicologists, industrial hygienists and occupational physicians concluded that the available scientific evidence suggested that current OELs recommended by government agencies for indium should be lowered as an added precaution.