A leading expert in audiology has said children and parents need better guidance on what safe sound levels look like.
It follows the publication of a paper which suggests 1 in 8 young people have signs of noise induced hearing loss by the age of eighteen.
Author, Dr Aric Sigman, says the increasing use of headphones could be to blame.
But Claire Benton, former President of the British Academy of Audiology told City News some of the findings linking headphone usage and hearing loss in young people were “alarmist” and more research was needed to draw a firm link.
Benton agreed greater guidance is needed to raise awareness to what safe listening practices look like for young people: “People generally see hearing loss as an old age issue and that is not the case.”
“Having more public health messaging around it would be really helpful because the NHS 10 year plan, a lot of that is about prevention … this is something we could prevent.”
“We do need to have a better education about listening safely, rather than blaming it all on the tech that’s available, it’s about learning to use technology safely ” she added.
Dr Sigman told City News his paper was raising the issue that headphone use may be exposing children to dangerously loud sound levels if they were being used inappropriately.
He acknowledged that more research was needed in the area but wanted the issue to be put into the public spotlight with calls for more guidance to parents.
He recommends people need to follow the 60-60 safe listening rule when using headphones:
– No more than 60 minutes of listening
– At 60% of the maximum headphone volume
– Followed by 10-15 minute break
More concerning to Ms Benton was noise in work environments, notably pubs, clubs or kitchens, where often music and noise is not monitored and people can be exposed for up to 8 hours at a time.
To keep our ears healthy, she says we should stick within safe sound limits.
Generally, adult ears can safely handle noise at 80db for about 8 hours daily, however, at just 3 decibels higher, this cuts the amount of safe listening time by half.
By the time we hear noises above 100db our ears can only take 15 minutes a day before risking damage.
Young people appear to be much more proactive in protecting their hearing than older generations Benton suggests. She points to the growing popularity of noise filtering earplugs like Loops, as a sign that young people are taking precautionary steps.
Sound and headphone use needs to be included in the same debates as screen time Dr Sigman says: “Sound is not thought about in the same way”, it is the “elephant in the room no one notices”.
Government advice is available to parents on how much screen time is safe for children, but currently there is no clear official guidance about safe listening practices for children including headphone usage.
There are no regulations in the UK that limit the loudness of headphones. Mobile phone companies have been told to limit output to 85 decibels however this can be manually overridden.
Many may be inadvertently listening to music at dangerously loud levels, such as commuters listening to headphones at full volume to drown out the noise of the tube, which can reach levels upwards of 100db.
Benton says much of the work informing the public is currently being done by charities like Tinnitus UK and the Royal National Institute for Deaf People’s (RNID) safe listening campaigns.
Nevertheless, Benton was keen to emphasise the benefits of headphone use. “Wearing headphones and listening to music itself is not a problem … a lot of people find it very beneficial for wellbeing, to help them focus and to tolerate noisy environments as well,” but crucially the “understanding of loudness needs to be there”.
She recommended for those concerned about noise levels, to use passive noise cancelling headphones.
Ultimately for Benton: “It’s all about moderation.”
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HeadlineHow loud is too loud? Protecting young people’s ears.
Short HeadlineHow loud is too loud?
StandfirstExperts want more guidance on safe sound exposure for young people.
A leading expert in audiology has said children and parents need better guidance on what safe sound levels look like.
It follows the publication of a paper which suggests 1 in 8 young people have signs of noise induced hearing loss by the age of eighteen.
Author, Dr Aric Sigman, says the increasing use of headphones could be to blame.
But Claire Benton, former President of the British Academy of Audiology told City News some of the findings linking headphone usage and hearing loss in young people were “alarmist” and more research was needed to draw a firm link.
Benton agreed greater guidance is needed to raise awareness to what safe listening practices look like for young people: “People generally see hearing loss as an old age issue and that is not the case.”
“Having more public health messaging around it would be really helpful because the NHS 10 year plan, a lot of that is about prevention … this is something we could prevent.”
“We do need to have a better education about listening safely, rather than blaming it all on the tech that’s available, it’s about learning to use technology safely ” she added.
Dr Sigman told City News his paper was raising the issue that headphone use may be exposing children to dangerously loud sound levels if they were being used inappropriately.
He acknowledged that more research was needed in the area but wanted the issue to be put into the public spotlight with calls for more guidance to parents.
He recommends people need to follow the 60-60 safe listening rule when using headphones:
– No more than 60 minutes of listening
– At 60% of the maximum headphone volume
– Followed by 10-15 minute break
More concerning to Ms Benton was noise in work environments, notably pubs, clubs or kitchens, where often music and noise is not monitored and people can be exposed for up to 8 hours at a time.
To keep our ears healthy, she says we should stick within safe sound limits.
Generally, adult ears can safely handle noise at 80db for about 8 hours daily, however, at just 3 decibels higher, this cuts the amount of safe listening time by half.
By the time we hear noises above 100db our ears can only take 15 minutes a day before risking damage.
Young people appear to be much more proactive in protecting their hearing than older generations Benton suggests. She points to the growing popularity of noise filtering earplugs like Loops, as a sign that young people are taking precautionary steps.
Sound and headphone use needs to be included in the same debates as screen time Dr Sigman says: “Sound is not thought about in the same way”, it is the “elephant in the room no one notices”.
Government advice is available to parents on how much screen time is safe for children, but currently there is no clear official guidance about safe listening practices for children including headphone usage.
There are no regulations in the UK that limit the loudness of headphones. Mobile phone companies have been told to limit output to 85 decibels however this can be manually overridden.
Many may be inadvertently listening to music at dangerously loud levels, such as commuters listening to headphones at full volume to drown out the noise of the tube, which can reach levels upwards of 100db.
Benton says much of the work informing the public is currently being done by charities like Tinnitus UK and the Royal National Institute for Deaf People’s (RNID) safe listening campaigns.
Nevertheless, Benton was keen to emphasise the benefits of headphone use. “Wearing headphones and listening to music itself is not a problem … a lot of people find it very beneficial for wellbeing, to help them focus and to tolerate noisy environments as well,” but crucially the “understanding of loudness needs to be there”.
She recommended for those concerned about noise levels, to use passive noise cancelling headphones.
Ultimately for Benton: “It’s all about moderation.”
