One major caution against simply “turning up the volume” is the potential for hearing damage. Basically anything over 75 dBA has the potential to cause hearing damage (a level present in many jets before you add sound from head phones. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), which balances personal damage and business costs used the much more lenient 85 dBA. Adding more sound in ear phones to mask plane noise may well put one’s hearing at risk.
One major caution against simply “turning up the volume” is the potential for hearing damage. Basically anything over 75 dBA has the potential to cause hearing damage (a level present in many jets before you add sound from head phones. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), which balances personal damage and business costs used the much more lenient 85 dBA. Adding more sound in ear phones to mask plane noise may well put one’s hearing at risk.
There are many links one could look at, for a general summary of the problem and danger, check out this article.
I can provide numerous other links, if anyone wants to do more research. The danger is not immediately noticeable hearing loss, just that little bit by little bit you will degrade your hearing.
Modern jets are not too noisy, by themselves. The Dash 8s and comparable turbo props can be loud. I usually wear 25 dB sound blocking ear plugs on those, and, otherwise, simply read when I fly.
Michael Sakarias
KTOO-FM, Juneau Alaska
