Subways May Be Bad for Your Hearing
June 21, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Women's Health
Could riding on the subway damage your hearing?
It’s possible with chronic exposure, say researchers from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Washington.
The researchers studied mass transit in New York City and found that Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) subways had the highest average noise levels of all mass transit in NYC. The noise levels recorded are high enough to increase the risk of noise-induced hearing loss.
Noise Levels on Mass Transit According to Study:
MTA subways: 80.4 decibels (dBA)
MTA subway platform: 102.1 dBA
Path trains: at 79.4 dBA
Tram: 77.0 dBA
To put these numbers in perspective, scientists note that normal conversation is 60 to 70 dBA, and a chainsaw is 100 dBA.
The study not only highlights the need for quieter equipment, but for riders to use personal hearing protection for the prevention of permanent noise-induced hearing loss.
(Study findings are currently available online at the American Journal of Public Health, and will be published in their August 2009 issue.)
(Image via flickr photofinish)
I live near a train station. The noise level is so high that I have headaches and I am losing my hearing. I called to make a complaint and I was told that I could not. The subway noise doesn’t count. I can even hear the train announcements calling off the station name and the name of the next station. I am going deaf!! I have a child!! I already have multiple disabilities. I am a productive member of society even with my disabilities!!I fight my ailments to go to school, work, and volunteer in the community. I don’t need another one.