Headphones are now as ubiquitous on the human body as jewelry or even hair. To see a person in public without some buds in their ears or headphones covering them is almost unusual in itself. Unfortunately, according to an investigation by an organization called ToxFree LIFE for All, all that plastic pressing into our ears might be carrying a lot more than music, podcasts, and audiobooks. It might be carrying… your death!
Was that appropriately dramatic for the grand reveal of the research team’s findings that headphones are absolutely loaded with toxic chemicals? I hope so.
Researchers tested 81 pairs of in-ear and over-ear headphones sold across central Europe and on online marketplaces. Every single pair contained hazardous chemicals. That includes products from major brands like Bose, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sennheiser.
The main culprits are bisphenols, specifically BPA and BPS, chemicals used to harden plastics. BPA appeared in 98 percent of samples, with BPS in more than three-quarters. These substances mimic estrogen and have been linked to cancer, early puberty, fertility problems, and The Guardian article I’m using as a source here has one very strange line that could be nothing, I don’t know, but it claims that “BPA and BPS mimic the action of oestrogen inside organisms, causing a range of adverse effects including the feminisation of males.”
That’s a weird sentence, right? That’s objectively a weird sentence in today’s political climate, right? Weird stuff.
Anyway, previous studies show bisphenols can migrate from plastics into sweat and be absorbed through the skin. Given how long people wear headphones, especially during exercise, researchers say dermal exposure is a credible pathway.
The lab work also detected phthalates (associated with reproductive toxicity), chlorinated paraffins (linked to liver and kidney damage), and flame retardants with endocrine-disrupting properties. Most were found in trace amounts. The study stresses there is no immediate health risk, but warns about the cumulative “cocktail effect” of low-dose exposure from multiple everyday products.
If you’re the type to have your earbuds in all day by default, you may be loading your system with toxic chemicals, which you are probably already doing anyway, with any of the several dozens of other ways you’re jamming toxic stuff into you.
For now, researchers suggest limiting prolonged use, avoiding sleeping in headphones, and opting for speakers when you can.
The post Are Headphones Poisoning Us? appeared first on VICE.
