Assessment of preferred maximum sound output intensity of personal audio devices on a recommended safety exposure time scale

Main Article Content

Adinife Patrick Azodo
Idama Omokaro

Abstract

The operation safety of personal audio device (PAD) as regards sound exposure intensity level considered as a function of exposure duration was carried out in this study. Maximum sound output intensity (MSOI) level from the participants' PADs was determined through physical measurement and analyzed on a sound exposure time guidelines. The PADs MSOI evaluation was conducted in a room environment with a background noise range of 48.4 to 57.3 decibels so as to avoid background noise interference with the choice listening levels of the participants. Analysis carried out on the obtained data showed that, for short exposure time of 0.5-2 minutes, all participants operated within recommended safety exposure time scale. Thereafter, the exposure duration from 4-120 minutes indicated a consistent increase in unsafe operation characteristics and reverse act on safe operation characteristics. It was concluded that a maintained PAD sound output intensity level exposure for an extended time space of 2 hours translated from safe to unsafe operation characteristics. It then means that time space for the PAD should be considered for either tune up or down of one’s PAD as recommended safety exposure is a function of time.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Azodo, A. P., & Omokaro, I. (2019). Assessment of preferred maximum sound output intensity of personal audio devices on a recommended safety exposure time scale. Science, Engineering and Health Studies, 13(2), 93–100. https://doi.org/10.14456/sehs.2019.10
Section
Short Communications

References

Ahmed, S., King, M., Morrish, T. W., Zaszewska, E., & Pichora-Fuller, K. (2006). A survey of the use of portable audio devices by university students. Canadian Acoustics, 34(3), 64-65.

Blesser, B., & Salter, L. R. (2008). The unexamined rewards for excessive loudness. In Communications: 9th International Congress on Noise as a Public Health Program. [Online https://www.icben.org/ 2008/pdfs/blesser_salter.pdf] accessed on December 10, 2017.

Bruner G. C. (1990). Music, mood, and marketing. Journal of Marketing, 54, 94-104.

Danhauer, J. L., Johnson, C. E., Byrd, A., DeGood, L., Meuel, C., Pecile, A., & Koch, L. L. (2009). Survey of college students on iPod use and hearing health. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 20(1), 5-27.

Donovan, D. M. (1988). Assessment of addictive behaviors: Implications of an emerging biopsychosocial model. In The Guilford behavioral assessment series. Assessment of addictive behaviors (Donovan D. M., & Marlatt G. A., eds.), pp. 3-48. New York: The Guilford Press.

Fligor, B. J., & Cox, L. C. (2004). Output levels of commercially available portable compact disc players and the potential risk to hearing. Ear and hearing, 25(6), 513-527.

Fligor, B. J., & Ives, T. E. (2006, October). Does earphone type affect risk for recreational noise-induced hearing loss? In NIHL in Children Meeting, Cincinnati, OH (Vol. 19) [Online https://www.etymotic.com/media/publications/erl-0136-2006.pdf] accessed on December 10, 2017.

Fligor, B. J., Levey, S., & Levey, T. (2014). Cultural and demographic factors influencing noise exposure estimates from use of portable listening devices in an urban environment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 57(4), 1535-1547.

Hodgetts, W. E., Rieger, J. M., & Szarko, R. A. (2007). The effects of listening environment and earphone style on preferred listening levels of normal hearing adults using an MP3 player. Ear and Hearing, 28(3), 290-297.

Hetu, R., & Fortin, M. (1995). Potential risk of hearing damage associated with exposure to highly amplified music. Journal-American Academy of Audiology, 6, 378-378.

Hoover, A., & Krishnamurti, S. (2010). Survey of college students' MP3 listening: Habits, safety issues, attitudes, and education. American Journal of Audiology, 19(1), 73-83.

Keith, S. E., Michaud, D. S., & Chiu, V. (2008). Evaluating the maximum playback sound levels from portable digital audio players. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 123(6), 4227-4237.

Keppler, H., Dhooge, I., Maes, L., D’haenens, W., Bockstael, A., Philips, B., Swinnen, F. & Vinck, B. (2010). Short-term auditory effects of listening to an MP3 player. Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, 136(6), 538-548.

Kim, M. G., Hong, S. M., Shim, H. J., Kim, Y. D., Cha, C. I., & Yeo, S. G. (2009). Hearing threshold of Korean adolescents associated with the use of personal music players. Yonsei Medical Journal, 50(6), 771-776.

Levey, S., Levey, T., & Fligor, B. J. (2011). Noise exposure estimates of urban MP3 player users. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54(1), 263-277.

Maassen, M., Babisch, W., Bachmann, K. D., Ising, H., Lehnert, G., Plath, P., Plinkert, P., Rebentisch, E., Schuschke, G., Spreng, M. & Stange, G. (2001). Ear damage caused by leisure noise. Noise and Health, 4(13), 1-16.

Mercier, V., & Hohmann, B. W. (2002). Is electronically amplified music too loud? What do young people think?. Noise and Health, 4(16), 47-55.

Meyer-Bisch, C. (1996). Epidemiological evaluation of hearing damage related to strongly amplified music (personal cassette players, discotheques, rock concerts)-high-definition audiometric survey on 1364 subjects. Audiology, 35(3), 121-142.

NIOSH, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (1998). Criteria for a recommended standard: Occupational noise exposure. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Online https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/98-126/pdfs/98-126a.pdf] accessed on January 8, 2018.

Peng, J. H., Tao, Z. Z., & Huang, Z. W. (2007). Risk of damage to hearing from personal listening devices in young adults. Journal of Otolaryngology, 36(3), 181-185.

Portnuff, C. D. (2016). Reducing the risk of music-induced hearing loss from overuse of portable listening devices: understanding the problems and establishing strategies for improving awareness in adolescents. Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, 7, 27-35.

Portnuff, C. D., Fligor, B. J., & Arehart, K. H. (2011). Teenage use of portable listening devices: A hazard to hearing?. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 22(10), 663-677.

Rawool, V. W., & Colligon-Wayne, L. A. (2008). Auditory lifestyles and beliefs related to hearing loss among college students in the USA. Noise and Health, 10(38), 1-10.

Simun, M. (2009). My music, my world: using the MP3 player to shape experience in London. New Media & Society, 11(6), 921-941.

Skånland, M. S. (2013). Everyday music listening and affect regulation: The role of MP3 players. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 8(1), 1-10.

Todd, N. P. M., & Cody, F. W. (2000). Vestibular responses to loud dance music: a physiological basis of the “rock and roll threshold”?. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 107(1), 496-500.

Weinstein, D. (1994). Expendable youth: the rise and fall of youth culture. In Adolescents and Their Music: If It’s Too Loud, You’re Too Old (Epstein J, ed.), pp. 67-85. New York: Garland Science.

Widén, S. E. & Erlandsson, S. I. (2004). Self-reported tinnitus and noise sensitivity among adolescents in Sweden, Noise Health, 7, 29-40.

Williams, W. (2005). Noise exposure levels from personal stereo use Nivel de expositión a ruido por el uso de estéreos personales. International Journal of Audiology, 44(4), 231-236.

Williams, W. (2009). Trends in listening to personal stereos. International Journal of Audiology, 48(11), 784-788.

Worthington, D. A., Siegel, J. H., Wilber, L. A., Faber, B. M., Dunckley, K. T., Garstecki, D. C., & Dhar, S. (2009). Comparing two methods to measure preferred listening levels of personal listening devices. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 125(6), 3733-3741.