Source: Center for Disease Control & Prevention
- Noise is now being acknowledged as an important public health issue and a top environmental risk faced by the world today.
- Over 50% of people aged 12–35 years listen to music via personal audio devices at volumes that pose a risk to their hearing.
- A rule of thumb for staying safe is to keep the volume below 60%.
- If you frequently use personal audio devices around loud sounds: instead of turning the volume up, consider using noise cancelling earphones or headphones.
- Listening through personal audio devices should not exceed 80 dB (adults) or 75 dB (sensitive users: e.g., children) for 40 hours a week.
- Listeners who regularly use portable audio devices can expose themselves to the same level of sound in 15 minutes of music at 100 dB that an industrial worker would receive in an 8-hour day at 85 dB.
