Photo credit: Alfred GF
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
To rephrase the headline of a recent article on the SportsRush website: Why do NASCAR drivers put their earplugs in their mouths before their ears? The answer is simple. It’s to lubricate the earplugs and make them easier to insert into their ears.
There are commercially available earplug lubricants, but I guess it’s easier for NASCAR drivers to moisten their earplugs with saliva. External auditory canals do have bacteria in them. It’s probably okay to lick one’s own earplugs before insertion, but not someone else’s. As an aside, when doctors borrow someone else’s stethoscope, we wipe the earpieces with an alcohol wipe.
Why am I writing about this topic? Because motorsports, including NASCAR and Formula One races, are incredibly noisy. Long ago, before I knew about the dangers of noise, I took my oldest son to the Long Beach Grand Prix. He was only 3 years old. I think we were watching Formula One cars, but I don’t remember. It was so noisy that after about 20 minutes he said, “Daddy, we can go home now.” In retrospect, I’m glad we left early.
More than 30 years later, I know that even a brief exposure to loud noise can cause auditory damage. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported actual NASCAR race noise levels in a 2010. Researchers Chuck Kardous and Thais Morata noted that spectators were exposed to sound levels two to 10 times higher than the maximum weekly recommended occupational noise exposure limit of 85 A-weighted decibels*. It turns out that noise-induced hearing loss is an occupational hazard for race car drivers, too.
My recommendation is not to attend motorsports events, but if you do, bring hearing protection. Because if it sounds loud, it’s too loud and your auditory health is at risk.
*A-weighting adjusts sound measurements to approximate the frequencies heard in human speech.
