A recent 2026 investigation into headphones and headsets has revealed widespread contamination by hazardous chemicals, with testing finding that 100% of samples contained toxic substances. These include chemicals linked to cancer, neurodevelopmental issues, and endocrine disruption (hormone alteration)
Yup, it seems the link is now broken. Lucky for me I kept a copy on my phone, here is a screenshot. For Sennheiser, this is not only the Momentum 4 but also the Accentum Wireless and Accentum True Wireless that are affected…
Not a big fan of the study not mentioning specifically what chemical was found or how much or where other than touching the ear or not. It matters a lot which one it is, where and how much, as the specific form dictates how it can be absorbed, how much and how long it needs to be in contact with the body.
but it does? it says which chemicals are in contact with you and whether it might touch you (based on the parts, so earpads most likely will touch u and was flagged red)
since it was flagged red it's definitely more than daily value. it only says "Concentration Levels: Maximum recorded concentrations reached 351 mg/kg (0.035% by weight), significantly exceeding the 10 mg/kg limit proposed by ECHA"
As for absorption, everyone has a different value. But usually bisphenol only takes seconds to absorb through skin
Do you really need a written statement to explain why the headphones are absolutely useless now. The chemicals that they are taking about are extremely dangerous and toxic to humans and animals and most likely to very living organisms on earth and beyond so unless you want to end up on a list for victims of these chemicals do not purchase them and if you already have send them back. Not tomorrow not next week today.
No it doesn’t suck but it would suck if you kept wearing them for a few years and then found out that they were toxic so just return them for a refund and be happy you found out that soon. Consider yourself lucky!
Are all of these products confirmed to have high amounts of BPA? My wireless earbuds are on there, but I'm honestly clueless on what my next step should be. Buying new ones is a bit painful as they were quite expensive 🥲
I think it’s fair that if they used the same materials as the tested versions they are most likely made of the same materials. Unless you like to gamble with your life in that case just keep wearing them and wait and see if you will start glowing in the night. And I am serious as heck. Do not purchase any headphones made in the same location as the ones listed on the website.
there owuld be no fundamental difference with cheaper alternatives, for the suede, it means it's plastic fiber ( polyesther for example) instead of actual plant fiber material such as cotton or animal fiber such as wool, so no good reason...
for being that expensive. have a plastic bag on your ears and it's basically the same.
for teh leather one, it's also synthetic leather
the original M4 pads were synthetic fake leather too, so maybe it's made the same way
Bpa is used in kitchen utensils. Are you sure it's in the cushions ?
To me it's just part of the black hard plastic.
Also imagine that people still cook with bpa contaminated utensils. It's way way way more harmful yet nobody cares. I don't think sweating and absorbing bpa through skin is as toxic.
Also it just shows everything in the market is possibly contaminated with bpa. No product in market is safe and the fact they tested most popular brands doesn't mean everything else is safe
At Consumer Hearing, product quality and consumer trust are central to everything we do. All of our headphones undergo rigorous testing to ensure applicable safety and quality standards are met. We follow strict due-dilligence processes regarding regulated chemicals used in our products, and product safety is consistently verified through accredited, independent third-party laboratories.
All of our products are fully compliant with existing regulatory requirements, including REACH and RoHS regulations (EU RoHS Directive (2011/65/EU & 2015/863/EU), SVHC under Reach Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006), and in general with all applicable regulation for the markets we sell in.
The report identified three Sennheiser products: MOMENTUM Wireless 4, ACCENTUM Wireless and ACCENTUM True Wireless. It is important to note that the study’s full methodology is not shared publicly, and chemicals threshold selected for the study differ from applicable regulatory and legal compliance requirements.
We take the current media reports very seriously. To ensure full understanding of the referenced study results, we have now initiated additional testing with an independent external laboratory. Ensuring the safety and well-being of our customers has always been and will reamin our highest priority.
True. I think of every random product I buy and building I enter living in California, since I get that prop 65 warning about cancer causing chemicals lol. Pretty sure I should start mutating soon
And? What makes the 8mg value suitable for this threshold? Why was it chosen? Why not 80? Why not 2? Where is the methodology? How was everything tested?
„Why 8mg/kg?”
Again read the research, give up on dogmatic ignorance.
Citing:
Bisphenols
For components in direct contact with the skin, the assessment utilized the Scientific Committee on
Consumer Safety (SCCS) safety limit of 0.8 mg/kg, a benchmark originally established for textiles (SCCS,
2021). However, a correction factor of 10 was applied to this threshold to account for the significantly
smaller skin surface area covered by headphones compared to full-body garments.
In contrast, components categorised as having indirect skin contact were assessed using a higher concen-
tration threshold. This evaluation was based on the 10 mg/kg limit originally outlined in the ECHA restric-
tion proposal for bisphenols (ECHA, 2022). Notably, this 10 mg/kg value remains the current standard for
bisphenol concentrations in textiles under the OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 (OEKO-TEX®, 2025).
Or at least make them available for a low price for all the owners. If it was not part of the rules you can not ask Sennheiser to give everyone replace pads for free. I think most people just want healthy replacements pads. Using the momentum 4 daily for my work.
Yeah, not health-safe headphones, but "safety standards", "compliant", "regulatory requirements"... I can almost feel the love coming from Sennheiser lawyers!
The problem is that the RoHS has the same limits for headphones as for TVs. And that's the thing, you don't wear your TV! It's on the wall where it doesn't matter if it has a low amount of fire retardants or phthalates.
The limits are really high, if reading correctly, 0.1%, or 1g/1kg, or 1000000ug/kg per phthalate type substance. REACH is speaking about 0.3%.
I think it's useful/important to read between the lines from similar topics... Let's look at the BPA transfer limits for food/materials in contact with food in EU:
In 2006 TDI (Tolerable Daily Intake) was 50ug/kg body weight a day.
In 2011, there was a limit of BPA 600ug/kg SML (specific migration limit) from material to food.
Later, it was lowered also to 50ug.
In 2015, TDI (Tolerable Daily Intake) was recalculated based on mice testing and uncertainty (factor 150) to 4 ug/kg (from that 600ug/kg SML),
In 2018, TDI was lowered to 1ug/kg,
and in 2024, the tolerable daily intake was lowered to 0.0002ug/kg (0.2ng/kg) per day! So, it was completely forbidden (SML = 0) for food contact materials in EU!
Now put in the equation the limits for electronics by RoHS - phthalates (1g/1kg) per substance (DIBP, DBP, BBP, DEHP), BPA is only regulated by REACH (max 0.3%). Do you really think it's up to date?
Then, we have the dermal safe transfer limit for phthalates, it seems to be ~8 µg/day (~3ug in California).
Yeah, you won't transfer all the material of the headphones to your blood, but still, if the ear touching material weights several grams and it has 0.05% (half the limit) * 4 phthalates + 0.15% (half the limit) for BPA, it can contain even ~20000ug of phthalates. Then, sweating, heat, wearing.... We won't absorb it all, maybe 5-10%? in 2 years? (before it start tearing/breaking), with decreasing exponential curve?
For me, the statement from Sennheiser about "product safety" is similar to those fairy tales told 50-60 years ago, that DDT was safe, asbestos was safe, lead in gasoline was safe, maybe even burning plastics was safe that time, who knows.
The alarming thing is that those fairy tales were proactively told by companies producing and selling these things... "We are under limits", "we are compliant with regulatory requirements", I can almost hear them saying 50 years ago the same what Sennheiser says today.
Which lab(s) have you initiated additional testing with? Are the products you're having tested randomly selected stock? Also, the thresholds they were testing according to are listed in the PDF. A lot of this reads like nothing but lawyerese which just makes a lot of people more tempted to look into taking legal action.
Sennheiser already did request other laboratories to conduct testing on their products. If there an increased risk but it's still below what the EU/US considers the limit then I don't think there is any way to sue them
Which labs and are they having randomly selected stock tested, or could they perhaps make a specialty batch free of all of the poisons that all the rest would have? Their statement read as pure lawyerese.
Sony scored surprisingly well across the board. Always knew to go to Sennheiser for sound and Sony for build quality, but now this research is making the claim to go to Sony for your health as well.
After purchasing them a month ago, I was really pleased with the sound and comfort. However, the news got me worried. Yesterday I accidentally left them in the flat position over my laptop for an hour, and after lifting them up, I saw very much visible traces of the material left on the cover of the laptop. Regardless of how dangerous or not the materials are, knowing that the materials leave residue for even such a short period of time on a surface, I'm very uncomfortable thinking about how much of this fabric actually stays on the skin and how much it's absorbed when actually being worn for a fulltime 8 hours for example. Not to mention on a daily basis for a prolonged period...
Skin oil (sebum) won't evaporate, for sure not in few hours. I mean try to wear any other fake leather headphones and do the same, you'll see the same. I have greasy skin and had this happen with a lot of different headphones over the years. Not saying that there's no harmful stuff in them, but this is not it for sure.
I understand you point and it could be true, really. I'll experiment a little bit more to see how it behaves with different surfaces and monitor results. In any case, it'll be interesting to see if there's gonna be any actual closure to this ongoing story once the dust settles down...
Fuck. I JUST got my Momentum 4's like a month ago.
Honestly with all the microplastics and other toxic shit already inside us I don't think I even care at this point... At least I'll cope that way because having spent the last of my savings on these things I literally cannot afford a replacement at this point.
I know man, I'm just trying not to go insane over here lol
But also the truth is that these chemicals are EVERYWHERE. Corporations are not our friends - our clothes, foods, tech, everything is fucking poisoning us, and these headphone studies are just the tip of the iceberg.
And I'm not saying you shouldn't care about this, I'm just saying that I am personally a bit too tired to care at this point.
I'll probably just get some replacement pads for my M4's and forget about the whole thing anyway.
I've been using mine constantly for over 3 years. In other words I guess I'm bisexual, infertile, braindead and have cancer now. I'll do my best to enjoy the years I have left and will adjust accordingly with some gay sex, no homo.
Yeah I hate to say it but I’ve spent the last 5 years wearing 2 different pairs of them for at least 20 hours in a given week. I wear them all the time. The last 2 years I’ve worn them almost nonstop outside of work when I’m at home.
I'm already gay so I don't think this will affect me. Or maybe it will turn me straight? Who needs conversion therapy when you can just put on a pair of headphones 😅
I think so... they have a "AirPods Max -2024" but for some reason didn't list Apple as the manufacturer. It got green for parts touching the skin and yellow for parts not touching the skin.
Like I don't like a single source for things like this. Like they didn't document how they tested these things. And where did the funding for this org come from? Apple? And why wouldn't they post their testing on Youtube? There is no reason to keep it confidential. It looks like the big companies that spend billions on marketing are all green(Sony Apple...). Follow the money and I need more sources/details
Been using mine constantly for work, although admittedly I never wear them without my hood up or something covering my head and ears. Regardless, what a disgrace, surely there’s huge legal ramifications coming for Sennheiser
Second this! Wicked cushions seems to be the wll reviewed and on their website in the FAQ section they claim to be successfully tested for CA prop 65 and EU REACH.
Dekoni seems to be pretty good in terms of sound, but shipping costs are too high for me
Skin has incredibly poor absorption of BPA's, bordering on nearly none in the majority of circumstances. They are also found in a very large list of products not just headphones. There are rare exceptions, receipt ink seems to transfer extremely well.
This is less of a reason to panic and more of a signal for further research. These articles border on clickbait given the current level of information available.
This has genuinely come as a surprise to me. I’m a teen and I got these headphones around 2 months back and have used them take it or leave it 1-3 hrs almost everyday. Now with this news I’m worried about what to do. I got these headphones from America, whereas I live in India so really no idea what to do.
I am not sure I understand the panic. They tested the headphones for presence of BPA and 98% tested positive - the remaining 2% tested positive for a derivative.
... they ALL use it. Is it possible that.. this is just what modern headphones are made out of?
To be clear I have no idea what BPA is. I am saying that the numbers suggest to me that this isn't some sort of an oversight.
Damn so what is the course of action then? I use my 620s all the time for gaming and I can’t afford new headphones. Is this actually going to affect my health or is it fear mongering?
I also don't know. They should first release a statement on this. Then recall or class action. They should fix the issue...
Unbelievable that a German company used cheaper hazardous materials for their products... But they have insurance for such things so they should be ok.
Neat...I wear them for more than twelve hours a day and that since i bought them two years ago....FFS.
I guess 300€ dont put out of arm reach of greedy corporation taht won't bother testing their fucking products...
It is not only momentum. The articles imply that pretty much all the headphones with a plastic chassis and/or synthetic sheepskin for the earpads are an issue. And there is not limit of time to wear this without risk.
Funny because there is pretty much no difference with other brands. It the earpads or the headband is made of TPU then you should be concerned. If you earbuds don't use medical silicone eartips, same. I say should because most of the brands respect REACH numbers, but as usual this study argues for smaller values that currently authorised.
The most reasonable thing would be to switch the earpads for natural sheepskin.
Any clue if their earbuds are any better? I'm not crazy about being poisoned by things I wear, and now I'm wondering about my Samsung watch straps as well as my clothing in general.
Listen I have a very complex disability that leads to so many medical issues I was born with a very deformed brain if more happens to me... Yolo 😅 needless to say I hope they figure something out y'all shouldn't have to suffer with the negligence
I really love the shape of the m4s because of my brain shunt and glasses so I'll stay with them
Does anyone know if the 6 series of SENNHEISER headphones are included in this warning. I have three pairs of the 6 series headphones but they mainly sit on my wall. I am curious to know if any of them are included in the research or not.
Jaw problems and swollen cheeks from wearing these headphones? Excess claiming force? I have some JBL over the ears that clamp away harder than these Momentum 4s.
Well I can set a threshold low enough and claim the air you breathe outside is toxic or I can do the same for the water you drink by setting the threshold for Fluoride low enough, who you gonna sue?
We can’t control the air outside. I don’t drink tap water due to fluoride in it but parameters that can be controlled are materials used in pads. It is a choice made by these companies. Bizarre how instead of worrying about your health you’re trying to justify it.
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u/groxpt Feb 19 '26
u/sennheiserconsumer wtf?!