Losing your hearing to everyday noises
As senior Kathleen Le Coze does her homework in the library, she keeps her iPod earbuds plugged into drown out the background noise. Listening to music players for long stretches at a time causes subtle hearing impairment.
March 17, 2009 • written by Emilio Ronquillo
An iPod can be more harmful to your health than a revving chainsaw will ever be. That’s because an iPod can be cranked up to a maximum of 120 decibels, versus the 110 decibels produced by a standard chainsaw.
With the proliferation of personal music players, more kids are suffering from hearing loss. This should come as no surprise, since users can listen to days of music without ever having to press a button or swap out a CD. This immediate access to sound makes it too easy to lose track of time spent listening to music.
Junior Brian Tieu, who estimates that he can listen to music anywhere from 12-17 hours in any given day.
“I only listen at half the maximum volume on my iPod,” said Tieu. “But when I’m at home, I blast the music through my computer speakers.”
And the consequence for such extended exposure to loud volumes is dire. A study done by the medical journal Pediatrics estimates that about 5.2 million kids aged 6-19 have noise-induced hearing.
Hearing loss can develop after 8 hours of exposure to 85 decibels. Research done by the Children’s Hospital in Boston has found that most CD players are capable of producing 85+ decibels.
The cause of hearing loss lies in the inner ear. Roughly 16,000 tiny hairs, called cilia, convert sound waves into electrical signals that are read by the brain. These hairs are damaged when they absorb strong sound waves for too long. Unlike most parts of the body, cilia never regenerate, so all hearing damage is permanent. Loss of hearing is often not noticed until years after significant damage has been dealt, so monitoring sound level intake is vital.
While it is unlikely that anyone listens to 8 hours of music per day, the allowance time for music drastically goes down considering every 10th decibel represents a tenfold increase in sound intensity.
Although the representation of decibels is going to vary between different kinds of music players (iPods and Zunes use bar images without decibels to display volume), an easy indicator of excessively loud music is simply to ask someone if they can hear your music.
Sophomore Alex Loder notices that when she does listen to music, others can hear her tunes “if they’re about a foot or two away from me.”
Matters only get worse when considering the fact that people are constantly buffeted by sound even without music players. Due to radios, television, video games, and even dialogue in loud places (60 decibels is normal), ears hardly ever get a rest.
Junior Stephanie Quimbao estimates that she spends about 13 hours a day listening to the likes of music, TV, and other people. Roughly half of that time is spent hearing music from her Zune.
Another threat posed by excessive intake of loud music is the development of tinnitus, which is a constant ringing sound in the ears. Kyle explained that, like hearing loss, tinnitus results from damage of the cilia hair in the inner ear. It is also irreversible.
However, tinnitus involves the brain producing its own sounds because the cochlea organ in the inner ear no longer transmits electrical signals.
Kyle knows firsthand the consequences of extensive exposure to loud sounds. Her husband suffers from tinnitus and hearing loss that resulted from his time serving in the Vietnam War.
“Every time we’re in the car, he always cranks up the radio volume because he can’t hear well. I usually end up having to cover my ears,” she said, laughing.
Fortunately, people who only listen to music for an about hour a day probably have healthy ears. Research done by audiologists at Northwestern University concludes that the allowance time for MP3 players at 60% of the maximum volume is an hour a day.
A person’s choice between earphones and headphones also factors into allowance times for music. According to WebMD, 4.6 hours of music with Apple earbuds at half-volume is safe. Over-the ear headphones, allow for 20 hours of listening.
Avoiding early hearing loss is not as bleak as it sounds. Whether it’s deciding to use headphones over earbuds, or listening at one volume bar lower, it is simple to keep your eardrums happy and healthy.
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