Global InformationSafe listening information
Safe listening is a framework for health promotion actions to ensure that sound-related recreational activities (such as concerts, nightclubs, and listening to music, broadcasts, or podcasts) do not pose a risk to hearing.[1]
While research shows that repeated exposures to any loud sounds can cause hearing disorders and other health effects,[2][3][4][5][6][7] safe listening applies specifically to voluntary listening through personal listening systems, personal sound amplification products (PSAPs), or at entertainment venues and events. Safe listening promotes strategies to prevent negative effects, including hearing loss, tinnitus, and hyperacusis. While safe listening does not address exposure to unwanted sounds (which are termed noise) – for example, at work or from other noisy hobbies – it is an essential part of a comprehensive approach to total hearing health.[8]
The risk of negative health effects from sound exposures (be it noise or music) is primarily determined by the intensity of the sound (loudness), duration of the event, and frequency of that exposure.[9] These three factors characterize the overall sound energy level that reaches a person's ears and can be used to calculate a noise dose. They have been used to determine the limits of noise exposure in the workplace.
Both regulatory and recommended limits for noise exposure were developed from hearing and noise data obtained in occupational settings, where exposure to loud sounds is frequent and can last for decades.[3][10] Although specific regulations vary across the world, most workplace best practices consider 85 decibels (dB A-weighted) averaged over eight hours per day as the highest safe exposure level for a 40-year lifetime.[1] Using an exchange rate, typically 3 dB, allowable listening time is halved as the sound level increases by the selected rate. For example, a sound level as high as 100 dBA can be safely listened to for only 15 minutes each day.[10][11][12]
Because of their availability, occupational data have been adapted to determine damage-risk criteria for sound exposures outside of work. In 1974, the US Environmental Protection Agency recommended a 24-hour exposure limit of 70 dBA, taking into account the lack of a "rest period" for the ears when exposures are averaged over 24 hours and can occur every day of the year (workplace exposure limits assume 16 hours of quiet between shifts and two days a week off).[13] In 1995, the World Health Organization (WHO) similarly concluded that 24-hour average exposures at or below 70 dBA pose a negligible risk for hearing loss over a lifetime.[14] Following reports on hearing disorders from listening to music,[15][16][17][18][19] additional recommendations and interventions to prevent adverse effects from sound-related recreational activities appear necessary.[1][20][21]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
:12was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ramazzini B (September 2001). "De morbis artificum diatriba [diseases of workers]. 1713". American Journal of Public Health. 91 (9): 1380–2. doi:10.2105/AJPH.91.9.1380. PMC 1446785. PMID 11527762.
- ^ a b Thurston FE (March 2013). "The worker's ear: a history of noise-induced hearing loss". American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 56 (3): 367–77. doi:10.1002/ajim.22095. PMID 22821731.
- ^ Fosbroke J (1831). "Practical Observations on the Pathology and Treatment of Deafness". The Lancet. 16 (398): 69–72. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)93630-5.
- ^ Kryter KD, Lee DH, Hewson EW, Gurnham CF (3 September 2013). The Effects of Noise on Man. [Place of publication not identified]. ISBN 978-1-4832-7262-7. OCLC 899495798.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Noise at work". European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
- ^ "Environmental noise — European Environment Agency". www.eea.europa.eu. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Themann CL, Morata T, Afanuh S (3 November 2020). "Using Total Worker Health® Concepts to Address Hearing Health (2019–155)". Workplace Solutions, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2019-155: 1–9. doi:10.26616/NIOSHPUB2019155.
- ^ Krug E, Cieza MA, Chadha S, Sminkey L, Morata T, Swanepoel D, et al. (2015). "Make Listening Safe" (PDF). Department for Management of NCDs, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention (NVI). World Health Organization.
- ^ a b "Criteria for a recommended standard ... occupational noise exposure, revised criteria 1998". The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. 1 June 1998. doi:10.26616/nioshpub98126.
- ^ Suter AH (2009). "The hearing conservation amendment: 25 years later". Noise & Health. 11 (42): 2–7. doi:10.4103/1463-1741.45306. PMID 19265247.
- ^ Roberts B, Seixas NS, Mukherjee B, Neitzel RL (March 2018). "Evaluating the Risk of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Using Different Noise Measurement Criteria". Annals of Work Exposures and Health. 62 (3): 295–306. doi:10.1093/annweh/wxy001. PMID 29415217.
- ^ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (1974). "Information on levels of environmental noise requisite to protect public health and welfare with adequate margin of safety". National Service Center for Environmental Publications. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ Berglund B, Lindvall T, Schwela DH, et al. (World Health Organization. Occupational and Environmental Health Team) (April 1999). "Guidelines for community noise" (PDF). World Health Organization.
- ^ Meyer-Bisch C (January 1996). "Epidemiological Evaluation of Hearing Damage Related to Strongly Amplified Music (Personal Cassette Players, Discotheques, Rock Concerts) -High-definition Audiometric Survey on 1364 Subjects". International Journal of Audiology. 35 (3): 121–142. doi:10.3109/00206099609071936. ISSN 1499-2027. PMID 8864255.
- ^ Diviani N, Zanini C, Amann J, Rubinelli S (February 2017). Chadha S, Cieza A (eds.). "Make Listening Safe" (PDF). World Health Organization.
- ^ Gilliver M, Nguyen J, Beach EF, Barr C (November 2017). "Personal Listening Devices in Australia: Patterns of Use and Levels of Risk". Seminars in Hearing. 38 (4): 282–297. doi:10.1055/s-0037-1606324. PMC 5634814. PMID 29026262.
- ^ Dobrucki AB, Kin MJ, Kruk B (1 September 2013). "Preliminary Study on the Influence of Headphones for Listening Music on Hearing Loss of Young People". Archives of Acoustics. 38 (3): 383–387. doi:10.2478/aoa-2013-0045. ISSN 0137-5075. S2CID 55571539.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:5was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:13was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Portnuff CD (2016). "Reducing the risk of music-induced hearing loss from overuse of portable listening devices: understanding the problems and establishing strategies for improving awareness in adolescents". Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics. 7: 27–35. doi:10.2147/AHMT.S74103. PMC 4754097. PMID 26929674.