Listening to music on the London Underground can ruin your hearing
Not only is overly-loud music escaping from someone’s headphones or earphones annoying, it’s most likely damaging their ears. This we already know. According to the latest report, listening to MP3s on the London Underground can cause as much damage to your hearing as operating a drill on a building site.
The research carried out by Echo Barrier (a London-based company that makes sound padding products) found that in order to enjoy the latest cuts from your favourite artists over the background noise of the tube, commuters were pushing the volume up to 100dB. Silly people!
In comparison, the average construction drill will bash out 120dB of sound – but their operators will be rocking the appropriate ear protection.
“Those who set the volume too high on their iPods really need to take note. Millions of Londoners take the Tube to and from work, sometimes journeys up to an hour each way, and during that time they are blasting 100dB into their ears which is extremely unhealthy,” Peter Wilson, technical director at Echo Barrier told the London Evening Standard.
The research went on to document the noisiest jobs in the UK. Airport ground staff and F1 drivers came out on top.
According to figures from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, around a million people in the UK are regularly exposed to noise levels above 85dB (where it becomes a health risk) while at work.
Do you have your cans at max when commuting?
