You Should Exercise Precaution Before Lending Your Ears
As the world gets noisier, hearing experts are trying to educate people so their ears will keep working into old age.
Education about noise exposure is crucial, they say, because although it’s regulated in the workplace, environmental noise--in movie theaters, streets, homes and elsewhere--is not. What’s more, people in certain professions (musicians, for instance, and sound engineers) often work independently and are not protected--or only loosely protected--by workplace safety regulations.
Thus, people who want to protect their hearing from permanent, cumulative damage must take matters into their own hands.
All kinds of noises--traffic, concerts, jet planes, gunshots, lawn mowers, hair dryers, stereos--can damage our ears. The intensity of the noise, its nearness and duration will determine the damage that’s done to the delicate “hair cells” of the inner ear. (So too will genes: For unknown reasons, some ears are just naturally tougher than others.)
Sudden, loud noises--such as a gunshot or a firecracker--can cause instant, noticeable, permanent hearing loss. And, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, any sound above 85 decibels can potentially hurt our ears. The louder the sound, the less time it takes to do damage.
Based on research into hearing loss, the institute recommends that workplace noise exposure be limited to eight hours daily for 85 decibels (equivalent to the sound of city traffic), and that exposure times be halved for each added 3-decibel increase (four hours at 88 decibels, two at 91, and so on).
These are good guidelines for recreational noise too, says Nancy Nadler, director of the Noise Center at the League for the Hard of Hearing, a nonprofit rehabilitation agency in New York. (Nadler has a collection of children’s toys that reach noise levels of up to 140 decibels.)
A variety of institutions as well as professional and advocacy groups are working to warn the public of this risk, efforts that include a partnership (led by the National Institutes of Health and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) that has forged a hearing conservation campaign called “Wise Ears.”
Among the many efforts targeting children is an exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland. As kids learn about hearing loss and noise from hands-on exhibits, data are generated to help scientists track children’s hearing.
“My kids know the drill--they’ve seen pictures of hair cells completely obliterated,” says Billy Martin, a scientist at the Oregon Hearing Research Center. When his two little girls hear a fire siren, he says, they whip through a “look and jam” maneuver: No. 1, look to see where the fire truck is coming from; No. 2, jam their fingers over their ears to protect them from the noise.
The House Ear Institute, a leading hearing treatment and research center in Los Angeles, has also targeted children with hearing education materials.
The institute has focused its recent efforts on noise-exposed sectors of the entertainment industry: recording engineers, technicians who mix and edit soundtracks for movies, and engineers who install sound systems in theaters and concert halls. House Ear spokeswoman Dilys Jones is coordinating educational outreach with the help of professional audio trade associations.
Because such people are often independent contractors, she says, they are frequently loath to make a fuss or admit to a hearing loss for fear of jeopardizing their livelihood. Yet “these are people who--when they are on deadline--can pull 10-, 12-, 15-hour days, several days a week, at levels over 100 decibels.”
Musicians are also at high risk for hearing loss: Many a boomer has heard about the damage sustained by Pete Townshend, guitarist with the British rock band, the Who. Such hazards led musician Kathy Peck--a former member of the San Francisco punk band the Contractions, who herself has noise-related hearing damage--to found San Francisco’s nonprofit Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers. But rock isn’t the only kind of potentially hazardous music: People who play in orchestras are also prone to hearing damage, particularly violinists, who hold their instruments near their ears and sit near the brass and percussion sections.
Concert-goers are also at risk, since musical venues can reach decibel levels above 120. Last year, a Princeton professor filed a lawsuit against the rock band Smashing Pumpkins, claiming that a concert he attended damaged his hearing.
Save Your Ears
To protect your ears and those of your children:
* Stay away from, or limit your time around, loud noises. Rule of thumb: If you have to raise your voice to be heard, or can’t hear someone from 2 feet away, it’s too noisy. Pain, ringing in the ears and a muffled quality to sounds are all after-the-fact signs that you’ve been exposed to hazardous sound levels. Although your hearing will probably return to normal, some permanent damage could occur.
* If you can’t avoid loud noises, tightly cover your ears with your hands or wear ear protection. You can buy inexpensive foam earplugs at the drugstore, ear muffs at hardware stores or, if you’re going to be around noise a lot or need good sound fidelity, you can get pricier, fitted earplugs from an audiologist.
* If you’re using a headset, keep the volume down to the level of normal speech. If you can’t hear someone talking to you, the volume is too high. You shouldn’t be able to hear music from a headset your child is wearing.
* Give your ears a rest. If, for instance, you work in a noisy job, choose Saturday, not Friday, to go to a concert. If you’re around noise a long time, take 10 to 15 minute breaks.
* Turn down the volume on your TV, radio and stereo. Get used to quieter sounds. Don’t sit so near the sound source. Think about your children: If they’re in the back seat of the car, are they too near the speakers?
* Keep track of your hearing with periodic hearing checkups. You can detect hearing loss in its early stages and act to prevent further damage.
* Before you buy a new appliance like a vacuum cleaner or hair dryer, test its noisiness. Buy quiet models.
* Educate yourself and others--your child and your child’s school--about the hazards of noise exposure.
* Install carpets and draperies to help soak up noise.
