What are hearing aids made of?
Hearing aids take 7 things directly, among them printed circuit board, copper, microchip, solder, ABS plastic and silicone. Trace them back and you pass 50 made things on the way to 24 raw materials.
How hearing aids are made See it on the map
What goes straight in
From the ground: 24 raw materials
- Copper ore through copper
- Water through silicone
- Air through zinc
- Silica sand through silicone
- Zinc ore through zinc
- Limestone through printed circuit board, fiberglass
- Sulfur through zinc, sulfuric acid
- Quartz through microchip, silicon wafer
- Tin ore through solder, tin
- Crude oil through microchip, aluminum
- Coal through microchip, aluminum
- Gold ore through microchip, gold
- Lead ore through solder, silver
- Silver ore through solder, silver
- Natural gas through ABS plastic, ethylene
- Iron ore through ABS plastic, pigment
- Timber through silicone, metallurgical silicon
- Rock salt through printed circuit board, epoxy, chlorine
- Trona through printed circuit board, fiberglass, soda ash
- Bauxite through microchip, aluminum, alumina
- Titanium ore through ABS plastic, pigment, titanium dioxide
- Corn through printed circuit board, fiberglass, soda ash, carbon dioxide
- Sugarcane through printed circuit board, fiberglass, soda ash, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
- Sugar beet through printed circuit board, fiberglass, soda ash, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
Made along the way: 43 things
Metals 7
Chemicals and fuels 26
Oxygen gasSulfuric acidNaphthaPropyleneAmmoniaBenzeneEthyleneStyrenePigmentMethanolHydrochloric acidSoda ashPhenolAcetoneChlorineCaustic sodaArgonPetroleum cokeQuicklimeHydrogenTolueneTitanium dioxideCarbon blackCharcoalCarbon dioxideFormaldehyde