How often have you fallen asleep with headphones in?
As more time passes, our society gets more and more “plugged in.” Though we’ve all been dependent on the internet and on various communication technologies for a long time already, things seem to only be trending more in that direction. Many of us need to have the television on to go to sleep, or to be listening to music on our phones. Still, anyone who uses their headphones frequently may want to be careful.
As it turns out, a string of incidents throughout the world have shown that they can sometimes be faulty.
Most recently, a teenager in Rembau, Malaysia was electrocuted to death from his faulty headphones.
The boy’s name was Mohd Aidi Azzhar Zahrin and the story was originally reported in the New Straits Times. According to the report, nothing particularly unusual was happening: he had been listening to music on his phone that was plugged into the wall when the headphones malfunctioned. His mother was the one who found him lying on the floor of their home, with blood coming out of his ear.
After examining the body, medical professionals showed burns around his left ear and confirmed that his death was caused by electrocution.
Although this may seem like a freak occurrence, it’s actually one in a series of recent deaths caused under similar circumstances.
In February of this year, a 17-year-old Brazilian student named Luiza Pinheiro was also killed in a similar incident. The event happened in her home in Riacho Frio, Brazil. After an investigation, professionals on the scene found that a “huge electric charge” had passed through her phone and headphones and into her body, melting the headphones in her ears. A local media publication called G1 reported on the incident in more detail:
“The girl’s grandmother told the doctor that they found her granddaughter unconscious, lying on the floor with headphones in her ears . . . They said they believe that the young woman had an electric shock because the cell phone was charging and the phone was melted.”
Similarly, a woman in an Indian village also died while listening to music in May.
The woman was 46-years-old and was reported by The Times of India to have died under almost identical circumstances. A month later, a 22-year-old man in Pandyo, India also died the same way after the power in his home cut off and came back on while his phone was charging, sending a surge through his phone.
While many of these deaths seem to be correlated among Asian countries, that’s actually not the case.
Another story from 2014 showed that an Australian woman living in North Gosford, New South Wales died similarly.
Although her case was not explicitly tied to headphones as some of the others were, reports showed that she was electrocuted by a USB cable that she was using to charge her phone while listening to music with headphones. Still, while many of these cases do not have decisive information about the make and model of headphones or phone that caused the issue, this one was attributed to the charger. “We know absolutely that the charger itself failed,” said Lynelle Collins, an employee at NSW Fair Trading, a government department dedicated partially to consumer rights. “We’ve got photos. We’ve got proof that’s been dismantled, so we know that the charger failed.”
Still, all of these cases have the similarity that they involved phones being charged while headphones were plugged in.
Although there are industrial safeguards in place to make sure that our electronics are safe for us to use, we can still learn from these stories.
While many phones are being developed now so that they can’t be charged and listened to at the same time (at least without dongles and attachments), it’s important to remember to avoid doing that if you’re able to. Beyond that, it’s also important to be aware and informed about any third-party pieces of electronic equipment you use with your phone and headphones. If these electronics are not made properly, they could easily become a hazard to you or others.
Be careful when using your phone and any unusual electronic devices!
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