The chart shows some of the
approximate sound levels. You can see that really loud sound scan actually be very dangerous.
Loud music played through an earpiece may be a particular problem. The distance from the
sound source to your ears is very important. The further away you are the better.
Think about places which are really quiet. Is there always music being played in public
places such as shopping precincts, cafes, clubs, discos and restaurants?
Is this a good
thing?
| Decibel level | Typical sound source |
| 160 | |
| 150 | Danger of skin burning |
| 140 | Jet taking off. Permanent hearing damage possible. |
| 130 | Jet engine at 30m. Air raid siren. Very loud rock group! Pain. |
| 120 | Pneumatic road drill. Jet engine at 150m Damage to hair cells in the inner ear. |
| 110 | Car horn at 6m. Pop group at 2m |
| 100 | Heavy road traffic. |
| 90 | Very loud orchestra. Heavy truck (MOT test 92 decibels at 8m). Underground train |
| 80 | Alarm clock. Loud hi-fi. |
| 70 | Busy street traffic. Vacuum cleaner. Building noise. |
| 60 | Normal conversation at 1m. |
| 50 | Quiet street. |
| 40 | Quiet radio in a house. |
| 30 | Rustle of paper. Tick of watch when held to your ear. |
| 20 | Whisper. Quiet country lane. |
| 10 | Rustle of leaves in a light breeze. |
| 0 | Threshold of hearing. |