Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL)

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Settlement for Hearing Damage Caused by Pest Control Explosions

August 2011

A rural Cottage Grove man has obtained a $37,000 judgment against a local pest control company he sued last year, alleging that its "Caddyshack" approach to gopher eradication permanently damaged his hearing. The 1980 movie ends with Bill Murray playing a frustrated golf course groundskeeper who blows up the pests' burrows in a series of explosions timed to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Mike Lester's July 2010 lawsuit sought $146,000 in damages from Cynergy Pest Control and Home Inspections, saying its blasts on a neighbor's property left him with persistent ringing in his ears. The retired fencing contractor said this week that he accepted the Cottage Grove company's judgment offer of $37,000 because it was enough to help defray his future hearing aid costs and because it made the payment a matter of public record.  Full Story

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Are Girls More at Risk for Noise-Induced Hearing Loss?

January 2011

Another new study shows girls may be more at risk for noise-induced hearing loss. Published online in Pediatrics (Vol. 127 No. 1 January 2011, pp. e39-e46 [doi:10.1542/peds.2010-0926]) a new study entitled "Prevalence of noise-induced threshold shifts and hearing loss among U.S. youths" looked at trends in adolescents. The study found an increased prevalence of noise-induced threshold shifts in girls, and concluded that it may have been caused by increased exposure to recreational noise as well as minimal use of hearing protection in girls.  Full Story

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Mechanisms of Noise-Induced Hair Cell Death

November 2009

Cochlear sensory cells include outer hair cells and inner hair cells that act as a mechano-electrical transducer and convert mechanical stimuli to neural activities. Acoustic trauma-such as exposure to intense noise-causes these cells to die. Loss of hair cells leads to permanent hearing loss, a common cause of acquired hearing loss in adults. Understanding how cochlear hair cells respond to acoustic overstimulation is pivotal for exploring protective strategies for reducing noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). In the past, investigators focused on the physiological and morphological impacts of acoustic trauma. Now as scientists probe the molecular mechanisms of hair cell damage, studies show multiple modes of acoustic trauma. These mechanisms may one day influence the treatment for hearing loss.   Full Story

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Convertibles Hazardous to Your Hearing?

October 2009

Convertible lovers who take to the open road with the top down may be risking hearing damage, according to a new study out of the U.K. "If you are exposed for long periods above 85 decibels [of sound], you have the potential for hearing loss," says Philip Michael, MD, an ear-nose-throat surgeon at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcestershire, U.K., and the study's lead author. In his study, he found that the noise level with the top down was higher than 85 decibels. "The maximum noise was at 70 miles per hour and that was 89 decibels. It has the potential for causing long-term hearing loss.''  Full Story

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Mass transit can be hard on the ears

June 2009

The New York City mass transit system provides affordable and efficient transportation, but it could be hard on the ears, a team of researchers said. [snip] The lowest average levels measured, 74.9 dBA and 75.1 dBA, were obtained from the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North trains, respectively. The very highest levels measured in the study were found on an MTA subway platform at 102.1dBA and at a bus stop 101.6 dBA -- a chainsaw is 100 dBA. "At some of the highest noise levels we obtained such as on subway platforms, as little as two minutes of exposure per day would be expected to cause hearing loss in some people with frequent ridership," Neitzel said.  Full Story

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Lawsuits on Hearing Loss due to Bluetooth Headsets Settled

February 2009

The multidistrict cases alleging that Motorola Inc. and Apple Inc. did not adequately warn consumers about potential hearing loss caused by their Bluetooth headsets have dissipated into a whimper. Regarding Motorola's Bluetooth headsets, a federal judge in Los Angeles approved a preliminary settlement on Feb. 9 that provides no economic recoveries for putative class members. Bluetooth Headset Products Liability Litigation, No. MDL-1822 (C.D. Calif.). Instead, Motorola and two other defendants, Plantronics Inc. and GN Netcom Inc., which makes Jabra Bluetooth headsets, have agreed to pay a total of $100,000 to four institutions related to hearing loss and post warnings of acoustic information on their Web sites and in product manuals and packaging.  Full Story

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The Ultimate Sound Loudness Chart

July 2008

The hearing threshold for a person with normal hearing is around 0 db, and sound tends to become "too loud" for most people around 110 db or so. A person in the front row of a rock concert can experience sounds of 120 db or higher. So what is a 130 db sound like? 140 db? 150db? How about 200 db? 300 db?  Full Story

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Extended cellphone use causes hearing loss: study

September 2007

For years, there have been worries that cellphones can cause anything from cancer to brain tumours. Now, a study is sounding a new warning for cellphone users. The study is being presented Wednesday at a meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck and Surgery Foundation in Washington, D.C. It suggests that long term cellphone use, particularly using the phone primarily on one ear, may cause inner ear damage. Dr. Naresh Panda from Chandigarh, India studied 100 young cell users. He found that those who had used the phone for more than 60 minutes total a day for over four years had noticeable losses in high frequency hearing. The hearing loss was greatest in the dominant ear -- the ear usually used for their cellphone conversations.   Full Story

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Longer mobile users at risk of hearing loss

August 2007