At
present nobody knows how loudly people listen to music on their personal music
players on how continuously they do so. What we do know is that personal music
players can reach
105 decibels (dB), this level being almost equivalent to
holding a chainsaw at arms’ length.
The Dangerous Decibels campaign from the Oregon Health
and Science University says that base on this evidence you’d expect to damage
you hearing within 15 minutes if you used ordinary headphones with your iPOD at
maximum volume.
Loud noises cause hearing loss by damaging the
stereocilia: tiny hairs that sit on the top of hair cells in the inner ear.
Noise makes them vibrate-changing the voltage in the hair cells which then
sends chemical message through nerves to the brain. Battering your stereocilia
will damage your hearing.
The issue facing parents is how to advise children so
they will listen and take action. Stuart added: “We always advise customers to
use good quality head phones that
protect against high-frequency sounds, which are most dangerous to
hearing.
Explaining to kids that
less is more is also a good idea. Ask them if they like listening to
their favourite band and point out they will find it harder in the future if
they don’t turn the volume down and take frequent breaks. It may fall on deaf
ears, but at least you’ve started the conversation.”
Here are some loudness/time facts to consider (the unit
of measurement is decibel)
- At 95 dB, damage will occur after four hours of exposure per day.
- At 100 dB, damage will occur after two hours of exposure per day.
- At 105 dB, damage will occur after one hour of exposure per day.
- At 110 dB, damage will occur after 30 minutes of exposure per day.
- At 115 dB, damage will occur after 15 minutes of exposure per day.
- At 129-plus dB, damage occurs almost immediately.
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