Photo credit: Frmir licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
This article by Hallie Levine in Consumer Reports discusses tinnitus. The advice is generally sound, with one exception--the article states that “any noise over 85 decibels can damage hearing.” This isn't accurate.
The auditory injury threshold is only 75-78 A-weighted decibels (dBA), and 85 dBA is the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Recommended Exposure Level for occupational noise, not a safe noise exposure level for the public. I wrote about this in the American Journal of Public Health and the NIOSH Science Blog also covered this topic.
But the basic message is correct: avoid loud noise, protect your hearing, and you won’t develop tinnitus from noise exposure.
And remember, if it sounds too loud, it IS too loud.
