Photo Credit: Flávia Costa licensed under CC BY 3.0
By Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
It looks like the truth about noise-induced hearing loss is finally getting out. This article in The Hearing Journal, which claims to be “the most respected journal in hearing health care,” discusses the fact that noise causes hearing loss. While hardly an earth shattering assertion, the article notes that “[h]earing loss has long been thought to be an unpleasant but inevitable side effect of aging.” But, the article continues, “within the past year, two reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have documented the startling degree to which noise—both in the workplace and elsewhere in our daily lives—contributes to hearing damage.”
What follows is a well-reasoned and complete discussion about noise-induced hearing loss. The article cites the new acting director of the CDC, Ann Schuchat, MD, and Rick Neitzel, PhD, the public health researcher (and co-founder of The Quiet Coalition). The only criticism I might offer is that the article doesn’t clearly state that the only safe noise level to prevent hearing loss is a daily average of 70 decibels time weighted average (see, “What Is a Safe Noise Level for the Public?“) and that the auditory injury threshold is only 75-78 A-weighted decibels. Those caveats aside, click the first link above to read the article. It’s well worth your time.
Originally posted at Silencity.com.
