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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

Showing 2 responses by nonoise

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,540 posts
 
I've been painfully aware of hearing loss since I've gone shooting as a youngster all those years ago. And to think of the concerts of the '70s and '80s still make me wince.

Like Glenhifis post about our youth, I tremble a bit when some fool pulls up next to me in his car with the stereo pounding and there's a baby or kids in there with no control over his or her fate, knowing there's nothing I can do or say that would make a difference.

All the best,
Nonoise
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,540 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
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