Channel 3000, Madison, WI - May 22, 2006
Copyright 2006 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
MADISON, Wis. -- In a special Healthwatch series News 3 showed how personal listening devices, like mp3 players, can be linked to premature hearing loss.
But that's not the only source of loud sounds.
In fact, most people encounter eardrum-damaging noise on a weekly basis. There's the lawnmower, the leaf blower, the edge trimmer, even your cell phone.
By themselves they may not seem like much. In fact, they probably seem harmless. But over time the exposure to these loud sounds can damage the ear.
"I've seen kids that they have big notches in the higher frequencies of their hearing and their history is typically music, hunting, trapshooting, that sort of thing," said UW Medical School Audiologist Richard Sauer.
To see just how loud these tasks were News 3 grabbed a sound meter and went searching.
First up was Josh Crooks, a landscaper for Landscape Care Company. The leaf blower he was using registered 98 decibels in the test. His coworker's weed whipper came in even louder at 100 decibels. It's for this reason Crooks said he wouldn't be caught without ear protection.
"There's days I've forgotten earplugs and you wish you hadn't," he said, "After a while you go to another crew and get some earplugs from them because you can't handle it."
The lawnmower of a nearby landscaper came in right near the leaf blower at 98 decibels. Louder than that was the edge trimmer at 105 decibels.
So what do these numbers mean? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, said a person could work eight hours a day in an 85-decibel environment before requiring ear protection. For every 3 decibel increase, the time it takes to damage the ear is cut in half. That means it takes just 4 hours at 88 decibels, 15 minutes at 100 decibels and less than a minute at 110.
"If the loudness goes up, the time goes down," said Sauer.
News 3's test also included Bill Decker who was cutting concrete on the Capitol Square. His machine registered 109 decibels, the loudest of the day. Operating this machine, he said, you'd be hard pressed to find him without earplugs.
"Very seldom that we work without them," said Decker of CPR and Company. "We always have them on."
News 3 did find one person working in a 108-decibel environment who wasn't wearing earplugs. Lee Kokovich said it was his third week on the job with DeSelle Fence, and the first time he was pounding in posts without plugs.
"I know I need it, I just haven't gotten around to it," he said.
His coworker Brian Altenberger said he's already noticed he has to turn the television up louder, which is why he wears plugs all the time.
"I started wearing earplugs two or three years ago and that definitely helps," he said.
Big machinery wasn't the only thing with dangerous noise levels.
For instance, a cell phone ring comes in as loud as 100 decibels, a Metro bus driving by is 89 decibels, a Shop Vac is 94 decibels, a table saw is 108 decibels, a Harley with performance pipes is 98 decibels and finally a roomful of kids is about 87 decibels.
Sauer said hearing damage occurs over a lifetime and not immediately. For this reason the rule of thumb is, if someone has to scream to get your attention, then the noise is too loud and you need to wear ear protection