The Heart of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

"This is what I dislike, all noise, noise, noise, noise!" An excerpt from "The Grinch's Stealing Christmas" by Theodor Geisel represents an aversion to many people sharing sharp voices It is. However, noise is something that society can not control because of construction work to maintain population and certain living standards. When society is used to the loud noises produced everyday, people often forget that they are exposed to social influences over the course of time.

There are many reasons for hearing impairment. Some people slowly lose hearing impairment (senile deafness) as they get older. Another cause of hearing impairment is exposure to excessive noise (known as hearing impairment due to noise). Many construction workers, farmers, musicians, airport workers, wooden knives, and military people hear so much noise that they have hearing impairment. When continuously exposed to noisy noises, tinnitus, tinnitus, snoring or roar may occur. Hearing impairment is also caused by viruses and bacteria, heart diseases and strokes, head injuries, tumors and certain drugs (NIDCD, 2011).

Long-term occupational noise exposure can cause permanent hearing impairment, which is called noise hearing loss (NIHL) and tinnitus. When exposed to noise, the auditory mechanism is over stimulated, which may damage the microstructure of the inner ear. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), NIHL occurs when an individual is exposed to a sound level of over 90 dBA. Regulation requires individuals to recognize noise exposure levels of 90 dBA. At the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the exposure limit is set at 85 dBA. Exposure below 85 dBA is not considered as dangerous. The time limit varies depending on the length of time an individual can stay in an environment that exceeds 85 dBA before causing hearing impairment. OSHA has set this limit to 85 dBA for 8 hours. As the dBA level increases the exposure time becomes shorter

Noise is also a factor that may adversely affect the health of coal miners. Exposure to excessive noise may cause hearing loss due to noise. Hearing loss caused by occupational exposure is the occurrence of occupational hearing impairment. In order to protect the hearing of miners, the noise guidelines of the United States Mining and Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) have specified 90 dBA noise and an allowable exposure limit (PEL) of 8 hours or more. The lower limit of 85 dBA is set for workers and can be included in the MSHA action level to decide to include workers in the hearing protection program.