Little Rock, AR - Alane Levy received a replacement toy when she learned about a recall of her daughter’s bathtub fish. Luckily, the toy that was deemed a choking hazard was pulled from store shelves, but very few toys actually get recalled.

“Just because a toy is on the toy store shelves doesn’t mean it’s safe,” warns Jennifer Giegerich, director of the Georgia Public Interest Research Group (GPIRG).

Her organization found dozens of toys on the market that pose a threat to children. Some are improperly labeled, some contain choking hazards or toxins and some are just too loud. One toy gun reaches 110 decibels, which is loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in less than 15 minutes.

Ms. Levy is concerned about her daughter’s hearing.

“It is her ears. It is our ears. It is the baby in the house. It’s her ears. The products are made too loud,” she says.

One study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 15% of all children have hearing loss, and about one-third of those children’s hearing loss is due to noise.

GPIRG says that you can take several steps to find out if a toy is too loud.

“Put it up next to your own ear and play it. If it’s uncomfortable for you, it’s too loud for your child,” Giegerich suggests.

And if it is too loud, take the batteries out or try Ms. Levy’s method.

“Some of the noisier toys that don’t have volume control, I will go ahead and put tape over them. So that’s my way of controlling the volume,” she says.

Ultimately, it is parents who take dangerous toys off the shelves by alerting the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to take action.

“If I see something that doesn’t look right or that could be unsafe for a child, or just doesn’t feel right, I will definitely pick up the phone,” Ms. Levy says.

Tips for Parents
After the holidays, noisy toys often become a child’s prized possession and a parent’s worst nightmare. Machine guns, drums, guitars and talking action figures may give parents a headache, but unbeknownst to some, they may also be dangerous to a child’s hearing.

According to the American Medical Association, an estimated 15% of children between the ages of 6 and 17 show signs of hearing loss. Much of this loss may be attributed to loud, noisy toys that are constantly held close to a child’s ears. Often, hearing loss is painless and occurs gradually over time. So if your child is experiencing damaging noise levels, you may not even realize it.

While many laws exist to protect children from potentially hazardous toys, currently no U.S. federal regulations that limit noise levels are in place. So as a parent, how can you determine if your child is being exposed to dangerous noise levels?

To know if a toy is too loud, you must take into consideration the level of intensity, which is measured in decibels (dBA), and the length of exposure to the sound. In general, the louder the noise, the less time it takes to cause damage. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Campaign for Hearing Health (NCHH) both state that prolonged exposure to sounds exceeding 85 decibels can result in hearing damage. To better understand the dangers of certain decibel levels, consider the following guidelines developed by the NCHH:

- 85 decibels: Exposure over an eight-hour period causes hearing loss.
- 85-90 decibels: Exposure over two hours causes hearing loss.
- 90-100 decibels: Exposure over one to two hours causes hearing loss.
- 100-110 decibels: Exposure between two and 15 minutes causes hearing loss.
- 110-120 decibels: Exposure less than 30 seconds causes hearing loss.
- 120 decibels: Exposure less than 30 seconds causes hearing loss.
- 130 decibels: Any exposure will result in permanent hearing loss.

It is important to know whether you child is being exposed to these dangerous levels of noise. The earlier hearing loss occurs in your child’s life, the more serious the effects on his or her development. The American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASLHA) cites four major ways in which hearing loss can affect your child:

- Vocabulary develops more slowly in a child who has hearing loss. The gap between the vocabulary of a child with normal hearing and one with hearing loss widens with age. A child with hearing loss does not catch up without intervention.
- A child with hearing loss comprehends and produces shorter and simpler sentences than one with normal hearing. He or she cannot hear quiet speech sounds, such as “s,” “sh,” “f,” “t” and “k,” and therefore, does not include them in his or her speech. Thus, speech may be difficult to understand.
- A child with hearing loss may not hear his or her own voice when he or she speaks. The child may speak too loudly or not loud enough. He or she may have a speaking pitch that is too high. The child may sound like he or she is mumbling because of poor stress, poor inflection or poor rate of speaking.
- A child with hearing loss has difficulty with all areas of academic achievement, especially reading and mathematical concepts. A child with mild to moderate hearing loss, on the average, achieves one to four grade levels lower than his or her peers with normal hearing, unless appropriate management occurs. A child with severe to profound hearing loss often reports feeling isolated, without friends and unhappy in school, particularly when his or her socialization with other children with hearing loss is limited. These social problems appear to be more frequent in a child with mild or moderate hearing loss than in one with severe to profound losses.

To give you an idea about how dangerous some toys can be, the League for the Hard of Hearing (LHH) has provided the following examples of noisy toys:

- Certain rattles and squeaky toys are measured at sound levels as high as 110 decibels.
- Musical toys, such as electric guitars, drums and horns, emit sounds as loud as 120 decibels.
- Toy phones for small children are measured between 123 and 129 decibels.
- Toys that are designed to amplify the voice are measured at up to 135 decibels.
- Toys producing firearm sounds emit volumes as loud as 150 decibels one foot away from the noise source.

Toys are not the only source of hearing loss. Loud music, traffic and lawn mowers may also be dangerous. The ASLHA suggests the following tips for protecting yourself and your child from dangerous, unwanted noise levels:

- Limit periods of exposure to noise. Don’t allow your child to sit next to the speakers at concerts, in auditoriums or by the television. If you and your child are around loud noise, walk out for a while to give your ears a break!
- Educate yourself about the damaging effects of noise and what you can do to prevent your exposure to noise.
- Educate others and take action! Educate your child through discussion and by example. Wear your ear protection and encourage your child to follow your example. Provide him or her with ear protection. Remind your child to turn down stereo headsets. A rule of thumb is that if a person standing three feet away can hear the sound emitting from a headset, it is too loud.
- Be a responsible consumer. Look for a noise rating when buying recreational equipment, children’s toys, household appliances and power tools. Choose quieter models, especially for equipment that may be used often or close to your or your child’s ears. If no noise rating is listed, contact the manufacturer and ask for one!
- Inspect your child’s toys for noise danger just as you do for small parts that can cause choking. Remember, too, that children tend to hold toys close to their ears, which can pose an additional threat for hearing damage.

If you think your child’s toys are too loud, consider implementing these safety tips provided by the LHH:

- If a toy sounds too loud for you in the store, don’t buy it. Children are even more sensitive to sound than adults are.
- Put masking tape over the speakers of any toys you already own that are too loud. This will reduce the noise levels of the toys.
- Remove the batteries from loud toys.
- Report a loud toy to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

References
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Medical Association
American Speech Language and Hearing Association
League for the Hard of Hearing
National Campaign for Hearing Health

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