Child and Adolescent Clinic - Loud Noise And Hearing

Ask Dr. Sue

LOUD NOISE AND HEARING

Dr. Sue,

My one year old daughter received a couple of toys for Christmas that seem really loud. Is there any reason to worry about damage to her ears or her hearing from loud things like these?

Concerned Mom

Dear Concerned Mom,

There are some really noisy toys out there! It is not clear exactly how much exposure on an intermittent basis is necessary to cause hearing loss, but you are right to be worried. We do know several things about hearing loss caused by noise:

Damage is cumulative over a lifetime. This means any potential damage from loud toys now might be the straw that broke the camel's back when added to exposure from your daughter's occupation, her hobbies, or other lifestyle issues as an adult. Males, at least adult males, are more susceptible than females.

Animal experiments suggest that young ears are more vulnerable to damage due to noise than adults. There are differences in susceptibility from one person to the next; but of course, there's no way to know who is especially at risk.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set 85 decibels as the level at which employees must wear hearing protection. This usually applies to noise that is continuing for most of an eight hour shift, however. Their position is that continuous exposure to noise levels higher than 85 decibels WILL eventually harm your hearing.

Three million children in the U.S. have some kind of hearing disability. A study done in 1990 found that 7% of second graders, 15% of eighth graders 13% of seniors, and 26% of seniors who played in the band had some degree of hearing loss.

Babies and children tend to get closer to noise-making toys than adults would, both because their arms are shorter and because they WANT to be right next to the sound. Currently, the only body regulating the allowed noise production of toys is the American Society for Testing and Materials, which states "Toys shall not produce impulsive noises with an instantaneous sound pressure level exceeding 138 decibels when measured at any position 25 centimeters from the surface of the toy." The Consumer Product Safety Commission has no regulation regarding noise levels and toys.

You might be interested in comparing the decibel level of various sounds, keeping in mind that an adult worker would have to put on hearing protection around continuous noise above 85 decibels.

20 decibels - a watch ticking
30 - whispering
40 - leaves rustling
50 - a quiet neighborhood street
60 - a dishwasher, microwave, blower on a furnace
70 - alarm clock buzzer, city traffic
80 - garbage disposal, vacuum cleaner, computer printer
90 - lawnmower
100 - blow-dryer, snowmobile, chainsaw
110 - automobile horn, snow blower
120 - jackhammer, rock concert
130 - jet engine at 100 feet away
140-170 - shotgun blast, depending on distance
(from May/June 1997 issue of Hearing Loss. Copyright, SHHH Publications, 1997.)

Now consider this:

One babies' squeeze toy was measured at 110 decibels
A toy police car was also 110 decibels
One particular rattle produced sounds up to 100 decibels
Toy guitars and drums often measure at around 120 decibels
Toy phones can fall into the 123-129 decibel range.
Some toys that produce gunfire sounds have been reported to reach more than 140 decibels when held right at the ear.

I would advise being very careful about the noisy toys that your child is exposed to. I would be even more concerned if she is in daycare, where there might be such noises on a more frequent basis throughout the day, in addition to regular multiple-child noises! Before you buy a noise-making toy, hold it to your ear, where your daughter will hold it, and produce the noise. If the sound made is uncomfortable to your ear, don't buy it. You can also report such toys to the Consumer Product Safety Commission at 1-800-638-2772, as well as to the Noise Center at the League for the Hard of Hearing at 1-888-NOISE-88. Your calls may help bring about new regulation that may do a better job at protecting our children from noise pollution in their own homes.

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