UNSPSC 46181902: Acoustic ear muffs or defenders

A type of hearing protection device, also known as an HPD, worn in or over the ears while exposed to hazardous noise to protect against noise-induced hearing loss. HPDs reduce (not eliminate) the level of the noise entering the ear. HPDs can also protect against other effects of noise exposure such as tinnitus and hyperacusis.

UNSPSC 46181902 Acoustic ear muffs or defenders is a Commodity code with minimal recent alignment to state and local procurement activity. The single recent opportunity tagged under this code—an indefinite quantity ITB from Gallup-McKinley County School District (GMCS) in New Mexico posted February 27, 2026—solicits athletic uniforms and related soft goods for high school and middle school sports programs, a scope unrelated to the code's nominal focus on hearing protection. The mismatch suggests either misclassification at the issuing body or that the code sees little genuine state and local procurement activity in acoustic hearing protection. State and local buyers under the actual scope of acoustic ear muffs or defenders—if they solicit them at all—likely tag them under different UNSPSC codes or acquire them as incidental components of broader safety or industrial equipment procurements.

The GMCS solicitation, while present in the activity feed, offers no signal of demand for acoustic hearing protection itself. GMCS estimates approximately $110,000 in average annual spending on athletic uniforms with no minimum purchase guaranteed, and the District reserves the right to make multiple awards and source from alternative suppliers as needed. Response to the ITB was due March 24, 2026, with New Mexico resident business preferences available under state law. The code shows no other recent state or local opportunities and no geographic or issuing-body concentration to report.