6 Survey of the market for hearing protection aids

Survey of chemical substances in headphones and hearing protection aids

6.1 Statistical information
6.2 Identification of producers of hearing protection aids

6.1 Statistical information

The product group hearing protection aids is not a unique item in surveys from Statistics Denmark which has not been able to point at which classification is being used in practise.

It has not been possible either to identify which branch(es) the producers belong to. From Internet searches it is estimated that the main part of the Around-ear models is imported, among others from Sweden where the producers also produce helmets, visors and other protective equipment. In certain cases it is most probably subsidiary companies of a large concern with a very wide range of products in the market.

The individually adapted In-ear models are produced both in Denmark and abroad. For certain products it takes place in the way that in Denmark an imprint of the shape of the ear is taken and thereafter a set of ear plugs is produced abroad. Also here it might be the case that the hearing protection aids are a part of a large product range which for example could include hearing aids.

There are no requirements to disposal of hearing protection aids unless they contain electronic equipment. Therefore it is not possible to get an indication of the size of the market in this way.

Accordingly, a good estimate of the market for hearing protection aids cannot be given. It is not possible either to differentiate between the two basic types of hearing protection aids, or to distinguish between products for professional use and for leisure use. However, common sense says that the market is substantially smaller than the market for headphones as they are products with a long lifetime being used of a small group of consumers. A very rough guess is that the number of sold hearing protection aids for leisure use does not exceed 10,000 units annually and is thus 1-2% of the market for headphones. The number of hearing protection aids for professional use is assumed to be somewhat higher as it is a legal demand that the employees have to be protected against hearing damaging noise. Here the lifetime of a hearing protection aid of course comes into play and in this connection it should be mentioned that in some cases it is possible to replace parts of a hearing protection aid, e.g. cover and/or ear pads. However, it is not a part of the project to investigate hearing protection aids for professional use.

6.2 Identification of producers of hearing protection aids

Producers and suppliers of hearing protection aids were identified via Internet searches, both in the most simple way by searching for “hearing protection aids” on Google and by searching for “hearing protection aids” on home pages for do-it-yourself markets, tool suppliers, working environment organisations, etc.

Table 2 shows the producers/suppliers which are judged to be relevant on the Danish market. It shall be noted that it was not possible to distinguish between products for private use and professional use so it is assumed that there are not fundamental differences between the products being sold to the two types of users.

Table 2. Products/producers of hearing protection aids on the Danish market

Producer	Type of hearing protection aids
Sonomax	In-ear
Hellberg	Around-ear
Bilsom	Around-ear In-ear Ear plugs
Peltor	Around-ear
AKU	In-ear
EARFoon	In-ear
AudioVox	In-ear
Phonak	In-ear
3M	Around-ear Ear plugs
Rexton (Elacin)	In-ear
Jonsered	Around-ear
Optimuff	Around-ear
Sordin	Around-ear
DeWalt	Around-ear Ear plugs
Bulloch	Not stated
Passive hearing protective aids	Not stated
Profi	Around-ear

Fourteen of these producers were contacted via e-mail or contact forms on their Internet page. Exceptions were e.g. made for products like Bulloch and “Passive hearing protection aids” which are sold in an multi-product shops, and where it neither through the seller’s homepage nor more detailed searches was possible to find further information about the product or the producer. The purpose of the contact was to get direct information about the materials used and/or a possibility of getting more detailed information from sub-suppliers. As mentioned the initial knowledge base was rather poor and therefore the same strategy as for headphones was used.

Producers giving information about one or more materials were asked for further information about the materials in question. If PVC was mentioned, questions about the use of plasticizers were asked. If artificial leather was mentioned, it was asked whether the plastic component was PVC, PUR or something else and questions about use of other additives were asked. The producers were also asked whether they applied other materials which come into contact with the ear and finally, they were asked whether they have had complains from customers about irritation or allergy from the use of hearing protection aids.

If there was no information about the use of (specified) materials, it was asked which materials gets into contact with the ear, whether they contain additives and if so, which additives. Also this group of producers was asked whether they had received complains from the customers.

Some producers, e.g. Peltor, Bilsom og Sordin, market a large number of products and therefore there was only asked about details for a few selected products. The background for this strategy was that it was assumed that the task of giving a satisfactory answer for all products would demand so considerable resources that the producer would choose to ignore the request for information for this very reason.

The results of the Internet searches and application to producers are reported in the next chapters.