GoKawiilPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Some European retailers have stopped selling certain headphones after an EU-funded study found that they contained hormone-disrupting chemicals.
The study included leading brands such as Apple, Beats, Samsung, Bose, JBL, and Sennheiser. Online stores Bol.com, Coolblue, and Mediamarkt didn’t respond to inquiries from The Verge about which headphones they pulled, but local news outlets report that they’re among the retailers that have decided to yank some of the worst-scoring models off the market.
The study authors analyzed 81 different types of headphones, and found that all of them contained at least traces of harmful chemicals including bisphenols, phthalates, and flame retardants. These are endocrine-disrupting chemicals linked to reproductive health issues, neurobehavior problems, and other health risks.
“We really think a systemic approach in banning and phasing out the most harmful chemicals — which have generational effects — is the way forward”
And while the chemicals were found in low concentrations, their prevalence in the headphones studied shows how widespread and overlooked their use can be. It also raises questions about the cumulative toll products laced with these substances might take on more vulnerable individuals, including children, teens, and pregnant people.
“We really think a systemic approach in banning and phasing out the most harmful chemicals — which have generational effects — is the way forward,” says Karolína Brabcová, a campaign manager on toxic chemicals in consumer products at the Czech nonprofit Arnika who coauthored the report.
Brabcová and her colleagues produced the report as part of the ToxFree LIFE for All project along with four other consumer advocacy groups based in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, and Austria. The project has received a roughly 2 million-euro grant from the EU.
To conduct this study, the researchers disassembled the headphones to collect 180 samples of hard and soft plastics from products marketed for adults, teens, and children. A lab analyzed the samples to look for the hormone-disrupting chemicals in products made by more than 50 different brands.
They gave each set of headphones three scores for parts that touch the skin, parts not touching the skin, and a total product evaluation. For each category, the headphones were rated either green for “lowest risk,” yellow for being “legally compliant but exceeding stricter voluntary limits,” or red for “high concern.” Samples that were “non-compliant with legal limits or contain[ed] multiple hazardous substances” got a red rating. But the report doesn’t disclose exact numbers for how much of each substance was found in each sample, only which chemicals were identified.
... continue reading