Keep Listening | What Are Safe Decibels? — Hearing Health Foundation (2024)

FAQs

Keep Listening | What Are Safe Decibels? — Hearing Health Foundation? ›

We recommend following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines averaging no more than 70 dB. Headphones and earbuds can reach as loud as 100 dB or more, so a safe level is 50 to 60 percent of the maximum volume. This helps protect our hearing and allows us to listen to our favorite music for longer.

You can listen to sounds at 70 dBA or lower for as long as you want. Sounds at 85 dBA can lead to hearing loss if you listen to them for more than 8 hours at a time. Sounds over 85 dBa can damage your hearing faster. The safe listening time is cut in half for every 3-dB rise in noise levels over 85 dBA.

Sound is measured in units called decibels. Sounds at or below 70 A-weighted decibels (dBA) are generally safe. Long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 dBA can cause hearing loss.

Experts recommend keeping sound levels at somewhere between 60 and 85 decibels to minimize the damage your ears are exposed to. If you are listening to music at around 100 decibels, restrict your usage to within 15 mins. However, these are general guidelines and listening threshold is different for each individual.

It is equivalent to the sound level of a regular washing machine. It is also equivalent to the noise level in an office environment or inside a car driving at 60 mph.

Levels and sources of damaging noise include: 85 – 100 decibels: For example, a hair dryer, blender, power lawn mower, forklift, or subway train. 100 – 120 decibels: For example, a bulldozer, impact wrench, or motorcycle. 120 – 140 decibels: Such as, a rock concert, auto racing, or a hammer pounding a nail.

Lawn mower: 94 decibels. Hand drill: 98 decibels. Motorcycle: 105 decibels.

However, the noise levels of vacuum cleaners fall between 75dB to 85dB. Thus, continuous exposure to such noise levels affect a user's health while also being a sign and source of inefficiencies in the equipment.

How Loud Is 50 Decibels? 50 dB is as loud as a quiet conversation, a quiet suburb, a quiet office, or a quiet refrigerator. Notice the use of the word 'quiet' when describing this noise level? That's because all sounds between 31-60 decibels are considered quiet.

What is the highest dB ever recorded? ›

The loudest sound ever recorded on Earth was so powerful that it could be heard from over 3,000 miles away. This incredible noise was produced by the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in 1883, which caused the surrounding air to reverberate with an estimated sound pressure level of 310 decibels.

The commonly stated range of human hearing is 20 to 20,000 Hz. Under ideal laboratory conditions, humans can hear sound as low as 12 Hz and as high as 28 kHz, though the threshold increases sharply at 15 kHz in adults, corresponding to the last auditory channel of the cochlea.

Normal hearing usually returns within a few hours to a few days. This is because the hair cells, similar to blades of grass, will bend more if the sound is louder. But they will become straight again after a recovery period. However, if loud noise damaged too many of the hair cells, some of them will die.

Limiting the output of an MP3 player to 100 dB is a good thing, but it should be pointed out that listening to it for more than 2 hours a day at 90 dB is dangerous!

Check and Control Headphone Volume

A good volume level is 70 dB - 85 dB. keeping the volume below 85 dB is a way to avoid hearing loss.

75 decibles is not really loud but loud enough you may have to raise your voice to have a conversation. Consider standing near a piano while someone is playing.

At 85 dB(A) there is a marginal risk with susceptible individuals accruing a significant hearing impairment from a lifetime of exposure. At 90 dB(A) and above the risk becomes material, with the majority of individuals accruing a significant hearing impairment.