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.
