TOO LOUD: Noisy toys can damage a child's hearing
According to experts, there are toys that are simply too loud, and can actually damage your child's hearing!
Many a times, you may not realize how loud a toy is, and how it could severely damage your hearing, especially kids. The Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing wants to continue to bring light to this issue, and they have recently released a list of the top 15 noisiest toys.
A few of the toys that made it onto the noise list include an alphabet cube and a power hedge trimmer. In the case of the power hedge trimmer, the sound level reportedly reached above 100 decibels.
The maximum sound level a child should be exposed to is 85 decibels.
The higher level, like right at the 100 mark, 15 minutes, can start to damage a child's hearing or even an adult's hearing," said Vicki Thompson. "So, that's something to keep in mind that the higher it is, the shorter the time that can really start to make an impact."
Thompson said parents should use their judgment, when purchasing toys.
"If you choose the louder toys, then you've got to be mindful, as a parent, on how they are playing with them," said Thompson. "Where they are, in regards to the sound, and just be savvy on that."
Sometimes, however, it takes more than one time to cause problems in long run.
"It's not one time that really does the damage," said Thompson. "It's more of a continual, repeated offense where in the long term, that's just not good."
Fortunately, not all toys made the list.
"The plush toys provide a little bit of 'insulation', where it dampens the direct sound," said Thompson. "So, that is really helpful, especially for those really young ears."
Thompson said the bottom line is to be mindful of the noise around you.
"Bring it down is just really the basic of it," said Thompson. "Keep it minimized. You don't have to blast yourself in order to enjoy whatever it is that you're doing."
ACDHH Update on toy noises
http://www.acdhh.org/media/517568/ACDHH-Weekly-Update-Tuesday-November-28-2017.pdf