Protect Your Child's Hearing

5.2 million 6-19 year-olds have hearing loss directly related to noise exposure*. Don't let your child be part of this unfortunate group.

Peace and Quiet

"Offer your child peace and quiet," says the Noise Center. "Noise poses a serious threat to children's hearing, health, learning and behavior." (And I can't think of an adult who functions well in a noisy environment either.) "Peace" and "quiet" usually go together because without "quiet" there can be no "peace."

Aside from turning down the TV and stereo, lowering your voice, and providing the opportunity for quiet time in both their work and leisure, take a look at the toys you allow your children to play with.

Fortunately my children didn't suffer hearing loss from the obnoxiously loud toys they played with, but I must admit I told them to quit for my sake, not theirs, and I was always standing a good bit father away from their toy than they were.

One father I know immediately disarms any noise-making function on a toy his child receives, and this may not be a bad idea.

And because they're young doesn't work in this case. You might assume, for instance, that your teenager can take that 85 decibels (dB) music because he's a teenager, but that isn't the case. Children's ear canals are shorter than adults, and therefore more vulnerable to damage in this way.

A study conducted by the Henry Ford Health System found that many current toys, including tape recorders, bike horns, cap guns, and toy telephones, are not safe for your child's hearing. Of the 25 they tested, more than half made sounds higher than 115 dBs.

According to The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, at 110 dB, the maximum UNdamaging exposure time is one minute and 29 seconds.

NOTE: In researching this article I found a variety of decibels, as well as length of exposure before damage and also read studies saying that individuals varied in their tolerance for noises. The data is not consistent, but will give you a range. Should you be wondering what protection to take, and when, ask your personal health care professional for medical advice.

Permanent Instant Damage

The ear is more unforgiving than you may know. A loud enough noise can cause instant, permanent damage, some noises can cause damage if heard long enough, and there is also cumulative effect over time. Prevention is crucial because noise-induced hearing loss can't be corrected, and hearing aids don't do much good.

Sound is vibration and has three properties: intensity, frequency and duration. "Intensity" is what is measured in decibels (dBs). A measure called dBA indicates damage to hearing. The higher the dBA number, the greater the risk of damage to hearing. This is because intensity translates to pressure on the eardrum.

What sound has what dBs? There is a long list of dBs (which they equate with dBAs) on the League for the Hard of Hearing website, including various recreational and work situations. A noisy squeeze toy rates an alarming 135 dB from them.

"Noise levels above 85 dB will harm hearing over time," they caution, and "noise levels above 140dB can cause damage to hearing after just one exposure." 140dB is also the pain threshold; most of us hearing a sound at this level will feel it as well. All values are approximate.

According to Dangerous Decibels, harm can occur with 103 dBs after 7.5 minutes, 106 dBs after less than 4 minutes, 109 dBs after less than 2 minutes, and 115 dBs after around 30 seconds.
 

Here is a list of sounds and the decibels to give you an idea:

0 The softest sound a person can hear with normal hearing aka "hearing threshold"
10 normal breathing
20 whispering at 5 feet, broadcasting studio, rustling leaves
30 soft whisper, library
50 rainfall, light traffic, average home
60 normal conversation, air conditioning unit
80 alarm clock
85 noisy restaurant
90 city traffic
110-120 rock concert, speedboat, headphones on maximum
110 shouting in ear, baby crying, many power tools
120 thunder, jet takeoff at 200'
130-140 firecracker, gunshot, powerful car speakers
180 rocket launching

According to the Noise Center, musical toys measure over 110 decibels, comparable to many power tools.
 

Teens

With your teenagers, pay special attention. So many of the things they love are not advisable:

Clubs and discos, 91 - 96 dBA+
Dance floor, 85 - 100 dBA
At the bar, 90 dBA or more
Personal stereo systems. 60 - 114 dBA
Rock concerts, 100 dBA or more average
Car stereos, up to 154 dBA!!
Home stereo, 80 - 115 dBA

If you take your kids hunting or to the shooting range, take the hearing protectors along. Firearms are all high and a single exposure can cause permanent hearing loss. Examples, 12-guage shotgun, 150-165 dB, shotgun, 163-172 dB, rifle, 143-170 dB. Most firearms start at 100 dB and can go as high as 190 Db.

You may also assign your older child or teenage chores involving power tools which require supervision for safety, including hearing safety.

Also note than a firecracker can cause immediate damage.
 

Recreation

Two other things children and teens like should be monitored. Noise levels at video arcades can exceed 100 decibels (similar to factory machinery), and computer games and stereo systems can go as high as 135 dB (the level of a jackhammer). An action movie is generally beyond 90 dB.

No one knows exactly what level damages a child's ears, but the Noise Center's Rule of Thumb is: IF YOU HAVE TO SHOUT TO BE HEARD THREE FEET AWAY, THE NOISE IS TOO LOUD AND IS DAMAGING TO HEARING.

Don't let your child become a statistic. According to Dangerous Decibels, approximately 30 million Americans have hearing loss, and 50 million have tinnitus, an early indicator.

According to a study done by Montgomery and Fujukawa in 1992, "Over the last 10 years, the percentage of 2nd graders with hearing loss has increased 2.8 times; hearing loss in 8th graders has increased over 4 times."

Check with your child's pediatrician for specific information. This is not medical advice.

*According to the 3rd National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [Niskar, 2000]. Reported on DangerousDecibels.

What Can You Do?

1. Educate yourself about noise levels
2. Provide your child with peace and quiet
3. Make it clear you value peace and quiet
4. Counteract that "loud is cool"
5. Ask your local theater to lower decibel levels
6. Provide ear protection
7. Model good hearing protection

 

 

Baby Banz Hearing Protection in the New York Times!

Want a Better Listener? Protect Those Ears

By JOYCE COHEN

Published: March 1, 2010

For football fans, the indelible image of last month’s Super Bowl might have been quarterback Drew Brees’s fourth-quarter touchdown pass that put the New Orleans Saints ahead for good. But for audiologists around the nation, the highlight came after the game — when Mr. Brees, in a shower of confetti, held aloft his 1-year-old son, Baylen.

 

(Photo Credit) Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

DULL THE ROAR After guiding the New Orleans Saints to Super Bowl glory, quarterback Drew Brees shared the moment with his son, Baylen, 1, who wore protective earmuffs.

The boy was wearing what looked like the headphones worn by his father’s coaches on the sideline, but they were actually low-cost, low-tech earmuffs meant to protect his hearing from the stadium’s roar.

Specialists say such safeguards are critical for young ears in a deafening world. Hearing loss from exposure to loud noises is cumulative and irreversible; if such exposure starts in infancy, children can live “half their lives with hearing loss,” said Brian Fligor, director of diagnostic audiology at Children’s Hospital Boston.

“This message needs to be conveyed to parents over and over again,” Dr. Fligor said. “If a child attends only one loud sporting event, it isn’t a big deal. But for those kids who will be going to football games throughout their lives, as Drew Brees’s kids will, it’s a very big deal. A young, tender ear may not be able to withstand damage.”

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, more than 15 minutes of exposure to 100 decibels is unsafe. The noise in a football stadium can reach 100 to 130 decibels.

And noise that is potentially dangerous to an adult is even more dangerous to a child, said Levi A. Reiter, head of the audiology program at Hofstra University, who also has a private audiology practice in Brooklyn.

Because a young child’s ear canal is much smaller than an older child’s or an adult’s, Dr. Reiter said, the sound pressure entering the ear is greater. An infant might perceive a sound as 20 decibels louder than an older child or an adult. The shorter length of the ear canal increases dangerous noise levels in the higher frequencies, which are crucial to language development.

Awareness of the problem is spotty, audiologists say. Even if concertgoers know about damage from loud music, few children are wearing protective gear at sporting events, parades or fireworks displays, or around high-decibel motorcycles and snowmobiles.

It’s a hard message to convey. Hearing loss, which accumulates slowly over a lifetime, is neither painful nor disfiguring, so it goes unnoticed. Stephen Glasser, an audiologist in Great Neck, N.Y., says the stigma attached to hearing aids — often considered a sign of age or weakness — seems to carry over to hearing protection.

And while adults may be able to escape from uncomfortably loud noise, “when you are a toddler in your parents’ arms or a stroller, you can’t walk away,” said Nancy Nadler, assistant executive director of the Center for Hearing and Communication, formerly the League for the Hard of Hearing. Nor are they likely to articulate it if they are feeling aftereffects of loud noise exposure, which include sensations of fullness or muffling, or the ringing sounds known as tinnitus.

But protecting the hearing of very young children is not easy. Earplugs are too big for tiny ear canals and too easy to put into the mouth, where they pose a risk of choking. They are also hard to insert — even adults do not always insert their own earplugs correctly.

Enter protective headgear, like the earmuffs worn by Baylen Brees. Sold by a number of companies (Baylen’s came from Peltor), they include lightweight foam-filled ear cups, weigh less than half a pound and typically cost $20 to $30.
Most are not meant for infants, but Baby Banz sells earmuffs for babies 6 months and older. Though they are adjustable, they may still be too loose for younger babies, said Shari Murphy, the company’s North American operations manager, adding that earmuff sales rose 40 percent after the Super Bowl.

More than half of customers have special needs, like autism or sensory disorders, Ms. Murphy said. For other children, the purchasers are typically grandparents, who sometimes say that their grandchildren cover their ears at fireworks or air shows, or that they themselves suffer from hearing loss.

The use of hearing protection “can make the experience enjoyable instead of having the baby crying and you don’t know why,” said Ms. Nadler, of the Center for Hearing and Communication.

Often, she added, limiting a child’s noise exposure is a matter of common sense. It might be best to leave the baby home with a sitter.

“We need to look at noise as something that is dangerous,” Ms. Nadler said, “like sharp tools or a hot stove.”

Hearing sense for NASCAR fans

Baby Banz has developed a line of hearing protection ear muffs just for kids! Don't think just one day at the races can cause harm? Check out this article!

Everyone knows that race cars are loud yet every week I see too many race fans with no hearing protection of any kind. Hearing is an important part of our lives, and our NASCAR passion, but many NASCAR fans are not taking good care of their ears at the track.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) a person can listen to a 90 decibel (dB) sound for 8 hours straight without any hearing damage. 90 dB is approximately as loud as a busy city street.

Adding just a few decibels cuts that safe time dramatically. At 115 dB you can only listen safely for 15 minutes.

An NASCAR Winston Cup race car at full throttle measures approximately 130 dB. And that is just one car, not a full 43 cars with their sounds echoing off of aluminum grandstands.

Taking care of your hearing

The solution is obvious, if you're going to the race you need to protect your hearing! There are a couple of different solutions depending on your budget.

If you own a scanner buy a decent headset with at least a 20dB noise reduction rating.

If you are still on the fence about whether or not you need a scanner, maybe this is reason enough to go for it. Just don't turn up the volume more than you need to.

At an absolute minimum if you are going to a NASCAR race you need to use earplugs. Even buying them at the track they can be had for $2 per pair. Buy them in advance and you can get them for half that. If you can afford tickets, parking, souvenirs, food and drinks you can certainly afford a couple bucks to protect your health.

If you're afraid that they look dorky, would you prefer to have to wear a hearing aid?

I truly love the sounds of a NASCAR race. 43 800-horsepower monsters and 150,000 screaming fans make my pulse race and puts a permanent smile on my face. However, I never go to the race track without my hearing protection. Through practice, qualifying and the race if the engines are running then my ears are covered. Yours should be too.

By Steve McCormick, About.com
http://nascar.about.com/cs/nascar101/a/hearingprotect.htm

Parents Magazine and American Baby Magazine

American Baby Magazine June 2009 - Easy Listening on page 24 highlights the importance of hearing protection and Ear Muffs like our new ones available online now!!

Parents Magazine June 2009 - Sun Safety Made Easy and Outfits with Benefits on Page 48 highlights the importance of UV swimwear and our Kidz Banz sunglasses for eye protection all summer!