A weighted decibel scale4/2/2024 The EPA calculated the safe noise level for the public to prevent hearing loss to be a 70-decibel time-weighted average for a 24-hour period (The decibel scale is logarithmic, so 85-decibel sound has 31.6 times more energy than 70-decibel sound, not 21% more, as might be commonly thought.) So what is the problem? ![]() In 1974 the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Noise Abatement and Control (ONAC) adjusted the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommendation for additional exposure time: 24 instead of 8 hours daily and 365 instead of 240 days annually. The 85 A-weighted decibel standard also assumes workers have quiet when not at work, which is no longer true for many Americans.Īn occupational noise exposure standard is not a safe standard for the public. Noise is different from other occupational exposures (e.g., toxic solvents or ionizing radiation) because exposure also occurs outside the workplace. Even with strict time limits, this standard does not protect all workers from hearing loss. At 85 A-weighted decibels time-weighted average exposure, an employer must implement a hearing conservation program, including serial audiograms and provision of hearing protection. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration adopted this as a legal standard for workplace hearing protection. In 1972, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health developed an 85 A-weighted decibel recommended exposure level to reduce the risk of hearing loss from occupational noise exposure. A discussion of the decibel scale and weighting adjustments is beyond the scope of this editorial.) Eighty-five decibels is a safe noise exposure level for the public. The decibel measurements used by each organization are cited as used. ![]() (Different organizations use A-weighted decibel measurements or unweighted decibel measurements. This is demonstrated by the use of 85 decibels as a safe sound level by hearing health professionals and their organizations, in media reports, and in publications, most often without time limits by its use as a volume limit for children’s headphones marketed to prevent hearing loss, again without exposure times and by general acceptance of higher indoor and outdoor noise levels in the United States. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders states, “Long or repeated exposure to sound at or above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss.” the absence of a federal standard, an occupational standard meant to prevent hearing loss appears to have become the de facto safe level for all public noise exposures. ![]() What is a safe noise level for the public?
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