Cause 1
A leading cause of hearing impairments used to be excessive noise exposure in the workplace, but today many young people are losing their hearing at alarming rates due to excessive noise exposure from portable stereo earphones.
Causes
Cause 2
Personal sound systems have become so overwhelmingly popular it seems almost everywhere you go, you see people of all ages tuned into what they want to hear and tuned out of the world around them.
Cause 3
The government through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has long known that noise pollution is one of the most common causes of hearing impairment in adults. During the past decade, the damaging effects of excessive noise pollution from portable stereo earphones have gained attention.
Cause 4
The amount of time spent listening with earbuds or earphones also increases the risk of hearing damage and/or loss. Brief exposure to a 90dB sound may not damage your hearing, but if your ears are exposed for extended durations, there is a definite risk.
Cause 5
In fact, if you were to listen to the 90dB sound for three hours, you could cause the same damage as a 150dB, 30 second sound blast. 150dB is the average sound level of a shotgun. So if a person is already using their earbuds at a level greater than 85dB and they are doing so for extended periods of time.
Cause 6
For comparison, a soft whisper is usually measured at 30dB; busy traffic at 75dB; a subway train at 90dB; a gunshot blast at 100 dB, a jet plane at 140 dB; and a rocket launching pad at 180 dB. Sounds above 140 dB usually cause pain. If you have to speak in a loud voice to be understood, background sound is probably in excess of 90 dB.