Toxic headphones 🥵

[Shrek]

Research suggests market-leading headphone brands might be hiding a nasty chemical secret

How safe are our headphones?

www.whathifi.com

 

[Jasonovich]

Oh my, that's scary.
Side effects as per extract from article;

early onset of puberty in girls, feminisation of males and even cancer.

I do hope the industry, moving forward, can provide us with more transparency, such as labelling of those brands using toxic plastic materials in their headphones.

 

[davidf]

And who knows what's in all the cheap Chinese ones.

 

[matthewpianist]

I think the discoveries around building materials (asbestos, insufficient firebreaks, flammable cladding etc.) is sufficient evidence that we can never have complete confidence in the safety of the things we use, and that caution is a sensible thing. Take it from someone who owns a flat in a five-storey building currently awaiting remediation work for the latter. The difficulty is in balancing caution and living.

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

Nothing about to what extent these chemicals leach out into our skin, no mention of what represents a safe level of exposure and, keeping quiet about what headphones they say they have tested.

Difficult not to see this as biased scaremongering. If the "problem" is as great as they seem to want us to think, why isn't there a huge scandal around the plastics used in computer mice and keyboards, with many millions of people spending all day using them at work?

 

[Deliriumbassist]

Nothing about to what extent these chemicals leach out into our skin, no mention of what represents a safe level of exposure and, keeping quiet about what headphones they say they have tested.

Difficult not to see this as biased scaremongering. If the "problem" is as great as they seem to want us to think, why isn't there a huge scandal around the plastics used in computer mice and keyboards, with many millions of people spending all day using them at work?

The study can be downloaded from here:

The Sound of Contamination: A Comprehensive Analysis of Endocrine Disruptors and Hazardous Additives in the Headphones

The ToxFree Life for All project analysed 81 headphone models (180 material samples) across Central Europe and online marketplaces like Temu and Shein. 100% of products contained hazardous substances, including bisphenols, phthalates, and flame retardants. While these products do not pose an ac...

arnika.org

I'm not providing an opinion on it either way yet, as I have not finished reading through it.

 

[Gray]

I've had decades of exposure to asbestos, lead solder fumes and a mouth full of broken mercury fillings.
If headphones cause me to grow tits, it might be the least of my worries 🤔

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

The study can be downloaded from here:

The Sound of Contamination: A Comprehensive Analysis of Endocrine Disruptors and Hazardous Additives in the Headphones

The ToxFree Life for All project analysed 81 headphone models (180 material samples) across Central Europe and online marketplaces like Temu and Shein. 100% of products contained hazardous substances, including bisphenols, phthalates, and flame retardants. While these products do not pose an ac...

arnika.org

I'm not providing an opinion on it either way yet, as I have not finished reading through it.

The PDF available on the site tells us what they found in the plastics but, doesn't appear to provide any mention of how much of those chemicals actually enter the body. also the claims made, seem to ignore the fact that most of the plastic content of on or over ear headphones, is not touching your skin while they are in use.

 

[davidf]

What would you consider "safe level of exposure"?

 

[Jasonovich]

Share the love, which isn't toxic!

For those who might be interested in planar headphones, Hifiman has knocked down the price of Arya Organic 🙂

 

[Gray]

Share the love, which isn't toxic!

For those who might be interested in planar headphones, Hifiman has knocked down the price of Arya Organic 🙂

View attachment 11092

I'm not happy that my own headphones have dropped by £63 since I bought them 🙂
Some early-adopter consumers there have effectively just seen £560 of their money go down the drain 😕

These all too common massive price cuts are evidence of too much initial overpricing.

 

[matthewpianist]

I'm not happy that my own headphones have dropped by £63 since I bought them 🙂
Some early-adopter consumers there have effectively just seen £560 of their money go down the drain 😕

These all too common massive price cuts are evidence of too much initial overpricing.

The materials may not be toxic, but that pricing strategy is.

 

[Jasonovich]

I'm not happy that my own headphones have dropped by £63 since I bought them 🙂
Some early-adopter consumers there have effectively just seen £560 of their money go down the drain 😕

These all too common massive price cuts are evidence of too much initial overpricing.

So true, I do think they're massively over-priced. My He1000V2's were originally priced £2K (2019) but now heavily discounted, got mine from Audio Affairs for about £850, not toxic at all 🙂

 

[Jasonovich]

Non-toxic, constructed from wood, the ZMF Ori-3. I was originally looking at these planars but ZMF never reduce their prices!

View: https://youtu.be/xOGY88WZjsg?si=_MkFqjLjGipjXd0n

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

The materials may not be toxic, but that pricing strategy is.

So true, I do think they're massively over-priced. My He1000V2's were originally priced £2K (2019) but now heavily discounted, got mine from Audio Affairs for about £850, not toxic at all 🙂

When I bought my Focals they were £800, a few months later they went up, another 50 quid. The following year, after the Cellestee launched, they went down to around £350, less from some retailers. On the other hand, some years earlier I bought a pair of AKG K550 mk1s for £99, down from £250. Given how good they are, quite the bargain.

 

[nopiano]

Share the love, which isn't toxic!

For those who might be interested in planar headphones, Hifiman has knocked down the price of Arya Organic 🙂

View attachment 11092

Are they biodegradable? 🤭

After 30 years, my first headphones, the redoubtable Sennheiser HD414 began to rot. The foam ear pads went first, and then the headband went yellow and brittle.

The worst stuff was Nextel, if anyone remembers that, and also that soft rubbery coating that became sticky after a few years.

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

Are they biodegradable? 🤭

After 30 years, my first headphones, the redoubtable Sennheiser HD414 began to rot. The foam ear pads went first, and then the headband went yellow and brittle.

The worst stuff was Nextel, if anyone remembers that, and also that soft rubbery coating that became sticky after a few years.

They lasted longer than my first decent pair of headphones, Beyerdynamic DT880 Studios, that only lasted 25 years... 🙂

 

[Jasonovich]

Are they biodegradable? 🤭

After 30 years, my first headphones, the redoubtable Sennheiser HD414 began to rot. The foam ear pads went first, and then the headband went yellow and brittle.

The worst stuff was Nextel, if anyone remembers that, and also that soft rubbery coating that became sticky after a few years.

Biodegradable? Only if you drop them in water! 😀

I got sheep skin ear pads for my Hifiman, hopefully they'll last a bit. If it goes flakey I'll know they were fake! 🙂