Dance Club
Statement: The sound levels at dance clubs should be regulated to protect club patrons and staff.
Expert’s opinion: Agreed.
Noise Induced Hearing Loss Regulation
At a young age, I had hearing damage, a condition called tinnitus. Tinnitus is when you hear ringing in your ear and mine was noise induced. As a musician for a lot of my life and having sensitive ears, this was the result of exposure to high sound levels. If something isn’t done to regulate sounds in the entertainment industry, millions of people may receive my condition and possibly get worse.
There are laws protecting industrial workers from harmful sound exposure, so there should be similar laws for the entertainment industry. An average club’s sound levels range from 90 dB to 100 dB and peaks can go up to 140 dB! According to a previous question asked by Mr. Chopin, these ranges will cause hearing damage and by 125 dB there will be pain the ears. Previous research has shown 64% of patrons at a nightclub for 1 hour and 95% during 4 of more hours risked hearing loss. Dr. Marek Roland-Mieszkowski is a leading scientist in the battle against high sound levels in the entertainment industry and his study shows that most club goers cannot recognize the difference between 85 dB of sound and 100 dB. This gives plenty of reason for governments to implement a maximum sound limit on the entertainment industry. Patrons will be able to reduce risk of hearing loss and many won’t be able to distinguish the difference in sound levels. Also, with reduced amount of people with hearing loss, the Canadian government will save extra health costs.
With that said, club owners should also be responsible for warning patrons and staff about the dangers of high sound levels. In Dr. Roland-Mieszkowski’s study, he found many patrons and staff were ignorant to the problems of hearing loss. Here are some of the misconceptions he found in many patrons; loud sounds are not dangerous until pain is felt, hearing loss is only temporary, and hearing loss can be repaired medically. This shows us that many people are not well-informed about the dangers of high sound exposure. These people that go to nightclubs unknowingly damage their own hearing. If people knew about these dangers, they can make their own decision of trying to protect their hearing or knowingly expose themselves to dangers. Consequently, if people stop going to nightclubs due to high exposure to sounds, nightclub owners will be forced to decrease sound levels.
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