Noise Levels Causing Hearing Damage

This article in the Australian today. We must continually remind our youngsters and indeed, some of the oldsters, to only listen to their devices at much lower levels. Many a time, I was on the bus travelling in to work and I could hear music blasting from earpieces from people sitting 2 metres away. One time an elderly lady commented to one passenger about the high volume and this passenger reacted very nastily! If we don’t look after our ears, we will soon have a deaf generation!!

Concert noise levels put hearing at risk

Sean Parnell

Health Editor

Brisbane

Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters performs in Brisbane where a 100-decibel noise limit was imposed. Source: Getty Images

THE 50,000 fans who rocked out at the Foo Fighters concert in Brisbane recently might not have realised it but, during the gig, some steps had been taken to prevent hearing loss.

Admittedly, the restrictions at Suncorp Stadium are more for the amenity of local residents than the eardrums of open-air groupies. But that 100-decibel noise limit still kept Dave Grohl and the band on a leash. (Eminem broke his, however briefly, at a concert a few weeks earlier.)

In the workplace, the noise threshold is 85dB across an eight-hour period, but at play the allowable level generally depends on the location, the source and whether anyone complains.

Yet research shows that 100dB is safe for only 15 minutes — the louder the noise, the more vulnerable the ears — and those high levels are no longer the sole domain of concert venues and clubs. This week the venerable World Health Organisation issued a warning that 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults were risking their hearing through the unsafe use of smartphones and portable audio devices and the effects of attending music and sporting events.

Australia’s HEARing Co-operative Research Centre has embarked on a pilot study to measure noise levels at venues, talking to patrons, musicians and staff in a bid to come up with practical measures to prevent hearing loss. It also has the unlikely support of Music Victoria, the peak body for musicians and live music in the state. (When the Foo Fighters played Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium, there were restrictions similar to those in Brisbane and staff were advised to wear earplugs.) The researchers want to do for recreational noise what their predecessors did for workplace noise.

“A lot of our messages have been directed at individuals and trying to give them the information to make whatever choices they need to make,” says the HEARing CRC’s Elizabeth Beach. “But we also recognise that we need to go to the source to see if we can mitigate the noise levels. We’re not regulators or lawmakers so we go for research and, by linking up with the venues that have the noise, look for ways to protect people but not impede their enjoyment.”

Beach says the average noise level in clubs is about 98dB but surveys suggest 90 per cent of people who go there would prefer the volume turned down a bit.

The study will look at whether reducing noise reverberation, providing quieter spaces for patrons to take a break or innovative sound engineering may help mitigate the risks.

Beach says avoiding prolonged exposure to loud noises, whether at work or play, is as important as giving your ears time to recover. (Ringing ears after a concert should remind you of the need for quiet time.) “Noise is noise is noise, no matter what the source is,” she says.

Hearing loss is expected to affect one in four Australians by 2050. The WHO’s Etienne King says young people should listen to the experts and realise that “once you lose your hearing it won’t come back”.

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