Our Noisy World's Toll on Our Ears
By J.D. Gray
In his latest book, “Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World,” journalist David Owen of The New Yorker writes, “Deafness is expensive. Earplugs aren’t.” ASHA Voices speaks with Owen about his recent book, and what he’s learned about our noisy world.
“In one way, people are much more aware of the danger of exposure to sound, but at the same time, the world has gotten much louder, and we have found new ways to pump sound into our head,” Owen says.
Owen discusses public perception of hearing protection, the impact of loud and noisy environments on our health, and the places that can make communication difficult.
For a deeper dive into occupational hearing loss and its prevention, ASHA Voices is joined by audiologist Vickie Tuten, former director of the Prevention and Surveillance Branch at the U.S. Department of Defense Hearing Center of Excellence and former president of the National Hearing Conservation Association
About 22 million workers are exposed to hazardous noises annually, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and it estimates about one in four workers has been exposed to a hazardous noise. Tuten says that although hearing protection can protect the ears of workers, it’s not always used correctly.
About 22 million workers are exposed to hazardous noises annually. Photo Credit: ASHA.
“I think the fact that hearing protection seems so simple makes people not take seriously the proper insertion of hearing protection,” she says.
On ASHA Voices, Tuten explains how a technique known as fit-testing hearing protection can help to ensure hearing protection is being used properly.
We also hear from public health expert Rick Neitzel, principal investigator in the Apple Hearing Study. As part of this research partnership between Apple and the University of Michigan, Neitzel is collecting data on personal listening device use and noisy environments through the Apple Research app. The hope is this research could influence policies that one day change noise pollution levels.
“So we're really hoping that bringing more data to bear here will let us assess a type of pollution that we ignore to our peril,” Neitzel says. “I'm hoping this study can help elevate and make people more aware about this potentially harmful exposure that all of us have.”
Neitzel says the app can monitor heart rates and give users the opportunity to take hearing tests. He discusses the significance of this data and what he expects to find.
This article was republished with permission from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). You can listen to the podcast in the original article or read the transcript for the episode here. ASHA podcast speaker David Owen is also the author of “High-Tech Hope for the Hard of Hearing,” a 2017 article in The New Yorker about Hearing Health Foundation (HHF)’s Hearing Restoration Project.