2. misc-audio
  3. 1344658316

Sound Exposure and Potential Hearing Loss



Recently, there was a post on the ICSOM board that I thought I would share the info from. ICSOM is the International Congress of Symphony and Opera Musicians, which consists of the musicians of the major US and some international orchestras.

The topic was How long can a person endure a certain noise level before hearing impairment occurs. As you can imagine, this is a fairly hot topic among symphonic musicians the world over, as it has been proven that we will lose at least 20% of our hearing over the course of our careers. I think audiophiles will also be very interested in the following stats, especially those of you who like to listen very loudly for long periods.

What follows are the current standards for recommended permissible exposure duration for continuous time weighted average noise, according to NIOSH and CDC. Keep in mind this is an average level for continuous exposure, and these numbers may not represent a world wide view of the subject. Basically, for every 3dB beyond 82dB, the permissible exposure time is cut in half before hearing damage will occur.

82dB - 16 hours
85dB - 8 hours
88dB - 4 hours
91dB - 2 hours
94dB - 1 hour
97dB - 30 minutes
100dB - 15 minutes
103dB - 7.5 minutes
106dB - less than 4 minutes
109dB - less than 2 minutes
112dB - less than 1 minute
115dB - less than 30 seconds
learsfool
david12
1,454 posts
 
You are right about ears being very sensitive. The easiest advice to follow as a guide, is if you go to a concert and have low grade tinnitus for a few days after, you have permanently degraded your hearing to a small degree, then a bit more next time.

We all take our ears and hearing for granted, in a way we would'nt with our eyes, for example.

I am sure many of you have heard this story, it may even be true. Someone reported a pidgeon flying in front of speakers at a Zappa concert and literaly disintegrating.
b_limo's avatar
b_limo
2,277 posts
 
Great topic Lears. Thank you all for the good info. If I knew better in my days when I used to go to "parties" and listen to music at what must have been over 100db at least, for 6-8 hours straight I would've been wearing ear plugs. Hindsight is always 20/20.
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
This topic has been touched on before and elsewhere. Always a good idea to refresh it. On occassion, I pull out my handy Radio Shack SPL meter. For example, most recently, I was rockin' to some John Mellencamp oldies. I really got into the music at 90db SPL. Based on the above guidelines, I should be mindful about listening at that level for more than 2 or 3 hours, which fortunately the house SPL monitor does not permit -- that's my wife! LOL.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,903 posts
 
One aspect of hearing loss that is always mentioned is once you've lost it, it's gone forever. I think that should be revised as I've been off work now for 6 weeks and have another 6 to go due to shoulder surgery. From the quieter comforts of my place, I've noticed that I don't have the volume up where I've always had it since I can now hear easily what I used to concentrate to do so.
The same goes for the TV.

I rather like it.

All the best,
Nonoise
singleendedsingle
664 posts
 
God, we sometimes forget how loud we play our music. Thanks for the reminder friend.
More to discover