Personal Audio System Use Can Harm Auditory Health

Dr. Daniel Fink and I presented our talk titled Personal Audio System Use Can Harm Auditory Health at the 180th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. It was presentation 3ANS8 in the June 10, 2021 Non-Occupational Noise and Hearing Loss Session.

We reviewed science showing personal listening – especially in children, teens, and young adults – is a risk factor for acquired noise-induced hearing loss and other auditory impairments. How can people listen safer in the absence of engineered sound exposure limits? Our recommendations to prevent overexposure include:

• Always use <50% volume, listening as low as comfortably possible.
• Use well fitting earbuds or headphones with noise cancelling or isolating features.
• Turn on or turn down any safer listening device or headphone features under device settings.
• Support public health authorities and political decision makers with the power to require safer sound exposure limits for personal audio system manufacturers.

If interested, the PDF below has the scientific references from our presentation.