Photo credit: This photo by Alex Binary has been dedicated into the public domain
by David M. Sykes, Vice Chair, The Quiet Coalition, and Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
According to this tech reviewer, an independent test of the new noise app on the Apple iWatchmeasured noise with 1% of a professional sound level meter, i.e., it measured 88 decibels when the professional meter measured showed 88.9 decibels. That’s pretty darn good!
But you don’t need the noise app on he iWatch, or any of the available smart phone sound meter apps that are available, to tell is a sound is too loud.
The World Health Organization recommends only one hour at 85 dBA to prevent hearing loss. If the ambient noise is loud enough that you have to strain to speak or to understand the person you’re speaking with, it’s above 75 A-weighted decibels* (dBA) and your hearing is in danger.
Because if something sounds too loud, it IS too loud.
*A-weighting adjusts the sound measurement for the frequencies heard in human speech.
