By Tyler Marr

TURN IT DOWN

Audiologist welcomes WHO guidelines to prevent rising hearing loss

Feb 14, 2019 | 5:08 PM

Over one billion 12 to 35-year-olds are at risk of hearing loss due to prolonged exposure to dangerously high noise levels, mainly from listening to music on their smartphones.

That comes from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which have issued new international voluntary standards for the manufacture and use of audio devices and smartphones for safe listening.

Around the globe, more than 466 million people have disabling hearing loss, and by 2050, more than 900 million are anticipated to be living with significantly impaired hearing, WHO said.

WHO insists around half of all hearing impairment can be prevented through public health measures. Unaddressed hearing loss, according to the agency, is estimated to cost the global economy around $750 million.

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The United Nations’ health organization is urging manufacturers to include better functions on personal audio devices that monitor how loud, and for how long, people listen to music.

“At the moment, we don’t really have anything solid other than our instinct to tell us: Are we doing this right, or is this something that is going to lead to tinnitus and hearing loss a few years down the line?” Dr. Shelly Chadha, a technical officer, working on preventing deafness and hearing loss at WHO, said in a statement.

The recommended guidelines propose individualized listener profiles by monitoring how people use their audio devices and letting them know how safely – or not – they are listening. Parental controls and volume limiting options are further suggested.

According to WHO, data shows around 50 per cent of young people listen to unsafe music levels.

Audiologist Jodi Haberstock has seen an increase in young people who come in for tests for job interviews, have no history of being around firearms or loud working environments, but show signs of high-frequency hearing loss.

While she said youth have always listened to loud music — admitting she enjoyed turning the stereo up as a teenager — the number of hours in which they are exposed to loud music has increased dramatically.

“You will see teenagers with headphones on while they are riding the bus, they use them in classroom … and then they wear them on the way home and are putting in a few hours after school, too,” she said.

She welcomed the guidelines brought forward by WHO and boiled the issue down to education.

Haberstock recommends those who anticipate using headphones for prolonged periods invest in sound limiting devices. Though they can come with a slightly higher price tag, they allow the user to have high sound quality without increasing the volume to a point where it can cause damage.

With concert sound levels booming louder than ever, the audiologist also suggested attendees wear earplugs, noting they will still be able to enjoy the show and at a healthy decibel.

“If someone is experiencing that ringing or dullness after being around loud noise … that is a warning sign and that is your body telling you the noise you were in was too loud,” she said. “If they can listen to those warnings then hopefully, they won’t have hearing loss in the future.”

As of yet, science is unable to reverse the damage to hair cells inside the cochlea.

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tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr