Oh, My Ears! Screeching Subway Noise Does Damage
Report finds noise on platforms can cause hearing loss within minutes
By JENNIFER MILLMAN
Updated 1:00 PM EST, Sat, Jul 4, 2009
All straphangers get annoyed by the screeching, screaming sound of subways roaring down the track at one point or another, but that doesn't keep many from keeping far from the yellow line. Step back, because such ear-popping noise can do irreversible damage.
A new study in a leading medical journal found that the din from squealing breaks and deafening trains could cause "permanent, irreversible, noise-induced hearing loss," according to The New York Post.
Sound levels in some stations can reach up to 23 decibels higher than what's safe for human ears, researchers reported in the American Journal of Public Health.
Standing next to a shrieking subway train as it barrels down the track is about as bad for your ears as standing next to a chainsaw that never turns off, University of Washington professor Richard Neitzel told the Post.
That's why some commuters have taken to creating their own means of protecting their precious ears. One teacher told the Post she plugs her ears with her fingers, and if she's holding too many bags to do it properly, she asks her husband to do it for her. Other straphangers try to drown out the racket by turning up their iPods – and some even try to adopt meditative states to drown out the clamor through relaxation.
Even irregular riders have to worry about the damage the noise could do to their ears. The report cautioned that exposure of a few hours to as few as two minutes a day could cause hearing loss, according to the Post.
"At the noise levels measured in the subway, exposures of a few hours to as little as two minutes a day would be expected to cause hearing loss," the report warned.
Researchers determined Manhattan subway stations were worst on your ears, and found that the noise was louder than any city buses or commuter-rail lines, according to the Post.
First Published: Jul 4, 2009 11:40 AM EST
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