Have Noisy Toys? Protect Your Child's Hearing, Researchers Caution

Guitar Hero, the Cheetah Girls in Concert, Hannah Montana In Concert Doll, and High School Musical Rockerz Jammin Guitar are just a few of the popular, yet noisy, toys that are sure to flood homes around the world. When these toys are used at normal levels, they're perfectly safe.

While these toys are safe at normal levels, turning the volume up too high, or holding the toy too close to the ear, could result in permanent hearing loss to those young ears. Since when has a child ever stopped at the 'recommended level' of anything, without pushing the boundaries and trying to go even further?

If your children are like most children, the noisier, and the louder the toys, the more fun they have. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine recently released a press release, detailing the testing and decibel levels of many popular toys.

Their findings are startling, concerning, and the list of toys tested follows. Many of the popular toys can read decibel levels of over 100. This makes that innocent toy just as hazardous as the noise made by a power mower, a power saw, or a subway train.

The greatest risk occurs when children have the toy placed up to or near their ear(s). The closer the toy, the greater the potential for permanent hearing damage. Having a toy just a few feet further away can lower the decibels by significant amounts.

How loud is safe?
According to the U.S. government agencies (OSHA and NIOSH), hearing sounds that exceed 100 decibels on occasion isn't anything to be concerned about. But, these two agencies disagree with safe durations for listening to that same sound.

According to the researchers, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) says that we can safely listen to 100 decibels for up to two hours a day. On the opposite end of the spectrum, NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) says that less than 10 minutes is safe.

Here are the decibel levels that were measured approximately one inch away from the speakers of these toys. Remember - children should not play with any of these toys that close to their ears.

Name of Toys Sampled - Decibel Level
High School Musical Rockerz Jammin Guitar -106
Cheetah Girls - In Concert Collection Doll -104
Hannah Montana - In Concert Collection Doll - 103
VTech V.Smile Baby - 103
CAT Motorized Dump Truck - 102
Tickle Me Elmo - 100
Transformers Trans-portable Activity Center - 99
Tonka Lights and Sounds Hummer - 97
Bob the Builder Deluxe Talking Tool Belt - 96
Bosch Toy Chainsaw - 95
Tickle Me Cookie Monster - 94
Little People Dump Truck - 92
Cabbage Patch Kids Babies - 91
Leap Frog Learning Lily - 90
Tickle Me Ernie - 90
Playskool Gloworm - 85
Little People School Bus - 80

"All the toys we tested are safe when used as they are designed. But kids don't always use toys as they were designed, and some of their sound levels can be dangerous. So it's advisable for parents to offer greater guidance for their proper and safe use," said Jeff Carroll. Carroll is a graduate researcher in biomedical engineering.

Many parents shrug their shoulders as they smile, delighted by the signs of pure joy on their children's faces, while doing their best to ignore the 'noise' that these toys make. Just make sure that your kids don't hold these toys too close to their ears.

Source:
http://today.uci.edu/news/release_detail.asp?key=1702