Photo credit: Nicholas Githiri
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
The full headline in Griffin Wayne’s recent HuffPost article is: “Certain headphones are safer for your ears. Doctors share the best ones for adults and kids.” The headline is probably accurate. Headphones with a tighter seal around the pinna (that’s the technical term for the external ear) and noise-canceling features are probably safer for your ears than those without those features. And, headphones with an 85 decibel (dB) volume limit are probably safer for your ears than those without. But, they are not safe for your ears. Looking for a safe headphone, earbud or personal listening device is like looking for a safe cigarette. You won’t find one.
The HuffPost article unfortunately conveys dangerous misinformation. As far as I know, the “60/60 rule” cited — limit personal device use to 60 minutes at 60% of maximum volume output before taking a 10 minute break — has not been empirically tested to see whether it actually is safe. I don’t think most devices have an easy way of determining sound output levels as a percent of maximum sound output. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommended occupational exposure limit of 85 A-weighted decibels (dBA) does not protect exposed workers from hearing loss, and is entirely inappropriate for the public.
The only evidence-based safe noise exposure level to prevent noise-induced hearing loss was calculated by the Environmental Protection Agency 50 years ago, and is a 70 dB time-weighted average over 24 hours. The World Health Organization recommends only one hour of listening at 85 dBA. Due to the mathematics of sound measurements, that’s the same as the EPA’s 70 dB safe noise level.
Yes, certain headphones or earbuds are probably safer than others, but they are certainly not safe for hearing. I’ll repeat what I wrote earlier for emphasis: looking for a safe personal listening device is a pointless task, as you simply won’t find one.
The main problem with personal listening devices is that to overcome ambient sound levels so one can understand what is being said in a podcast or hear the lyrics in a song, the user must turn up the sound output to unsafe levels. That will eventually cause noise-induced hearing loss with the hair cell damage mentioned in the article. My advice is read a book or magazine, look out the window or talk to a stranger on the bus, train, or plane. Your ears will thank you when you get older.
