Download top and best high-quality free Noise Reduction Ear Plug PNG Transparent Images backgrounds available in various sizes. To view the full PNG size resolution click on any of the below image thumbnail.

License Info: Creative Commons 4.0 BY-NC

An earplug is a device that is placed into the ear canal to protect the user’s ears from loud sounds, water incursion, foreign bodies, dust, and excessive wind. Earplugs are frequently used to help prevent hearing loss and tinnitus because they lower sound loudness (ringing of the ears).

The use of earplugs is first mentioned in the Greek epic Odyssey when Odysseus’ crew is warned of Sirens who sing from an island they will sail through. Circe, their hostess, informs them of the Sirens’ bewitching music, which causes men to abandon their boats and drown. She urged Odysseus to make earplugs out of beeswax for his men so they wouldn’t be lulled to death by the siren’s music.

Max Negwer, a German inventor, founded the German business Ohropax in 1907, which specialized in wax earplugs. In 1962, Ray and Cecilia Benner created the world’s first moldable pure silicone earplug. Swimmers and anyone wanting to avoid hazardous sounds favored these earplugs because of their waterproof characteristics. McKeon Products was purchased by Ray Benner, a classical pianist, in 1962. Mack’s Earplugs (named after the original owner) was the company’s only product at the time. It was a moldable clay earplug. Mack’s Pillow Soft Earplugs were soon modified by the Benners as a silicone version of the product.

Ross Gardner Jr. and his colleagues at the National Research Corporation (NRC) in the United States discovered the current earplug material in 1967. They created material with energy absorption characteristics as part of a project on sealing joints. This substance became known as “E-A-R.” (Energy Absorption Resin). The material was developed into commercial memory foam earplugs in 1972, using either polyvinyl chloride or polyurethane as the base.

For hearing protection, there are four major types of earplug fits.

Earplugs composed mostly of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyurethane (PU) (memory foam) that are compressed (rolled) and inserted into the ear canal, where they expand to seal it.

Custom-molded earplugs that are produced from a mold of the wearer’s ear canal and are meant to suit all ear canal shapes perfectly. Laboratory-made and “formed in place” are two types of custom molded products.

When utilizing memory foam earplugs, NIOSH Mining Safety and Health Research suggests rolling, pulling, and gripping. Rolling the earplug into a thin rod, pulling back on the ear, and keeping the earplug deep in the ear canal with the finger are all steps in the procedure. The user must wait 20 to 30 seconds for the earplug to expand completely inside the canal in order to achieve a perfect seal.

Download Ear Plug PNG images transparent gallery.