European retailers yank popular headphones after study reports trace amounts of hormonedisrupting chemicals
Mar 14, 2026
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 includi …
Read the full story at The Verge.
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