How many decibels can your ear tolerate

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Top of the page. Topic Overview The effects of noise on hearing vary among people. Noise levels Noise Average decibels dB Leaves rustling, soft music, whisper 30 Average home noise 40 Normal conversation, background music 60 Office noise, inside car at 60 mph 70 Vacuum cleaner, average radio 75 Heavy traffic, window air conditioner, noisy restaurant, power lawn mower 80—89 sounds above 85 dB are harmful Subway, shouted conversation 90—95 Boom box, ATV, motorcycle 96— School dance — Chainsaw, leaf blower, snowmobile — Sports crowd, rock concert, loud symphony — Stock car races Gun shot, siren at feet As loudness increases, the amount of time you can hear the sound before damage occurs decreases.

Preventing damage to your hearing An easy way to become aware of potentially harmful noise is to pay attention to warning signs that a sound might be damaging to your hearing. A sound may be harmful if: You have difficulty talking or hearing others talk over the sound.

Your ears may feel "full" too. Don't worry, it should get better. But hearing loss can become permanent if you listen to loud music or hear loud sounds over and over again. To help prevent hearing loss, turn down the volume and wear ear protection the next time you're around loud noise.

If someone is around loud noise often, over a long time, permanent hearing loss can happen. This means the person's hearing won't ever be as good as it once was. That's why construction workers and factory workers need to wear ear protection. Lawn mowers and power tools, like chainsaws, are loud enough to cause tinnitus and hearing loss.

Listening to loud music a lot can cause the same kind of damage, especially if you use headphones or ear buds. That's why some of your favorite musicians wear hearing protection while they're playing.

Of the roughly 40 million Americans suffering from hearing loss, 10 million can be attributed to noise-induced hearing loss NIHL. NIHL can be caused by a one-time exposure to loud sound as well as by repeated exposure to sounds at various loudness levels over an extended period of time.

Damage happens to the microscopic hair cells found inside the cochlea. These cells respond to mechanical sound vibrations by sending an electrical signal to the auditory nerve. Different groups of hair cells are responsible for different frequencies rate of vibrations. The healthy human ear can hear frequencies ranging from 20Hz to 20, Hz. If enough of them are damaged, hearing loss results.

The high frequency area of the cochlea is often damaged by loud sound.