You expect value for the price. But what true value do you get from loud toys? The earsplitting bang, boom, and buzz of many fun items can damage your child's hearing!

During his formative years, your child's hearing is a precious tool essential for language progress, learning, obedience, higher self-confidence and quality of life. Hearing helps differentiate speech from general noise and to locate the origin of a sound. Hearing is a valuable, commodity that must be protected.

The American Academy of Otolaryngology (AAO) claims one in 10 Americans has a hearing loss that affects his ability to understand normal speech. Excessive noise exposure is the most common cause of hearing loss. "The damage caused by noise, called sensorineural hearing loss or nerve loss, can be caused by several factors other than noise, but noise-induced hearing loss is different in one important way - it can be reduced or prevented altogether."

However, did you know toys emitting sounds of 90 decibels (dB) or more could damage your child's sensitive hearing? Toy fire trucks, ambulances, siren police cars, toy cell phones, personal stereo systems, some musical instruments, BB guns, and firecrackers are in this deafening category. Hearnet.com, a non-profit hearing information source, explains, "Decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale. Each increase of 10 on the scale represents a tenfold increase in loudness. 20 dB is 10 times as loud as 10 dB; 30 dB is 100 times louder than 10 dB, and so on." A whisper is around 15 dB whereas typical conversation is between 40 to 60 dB.

At this time, there are no federal standards to regulate safe noise levels on children's toys or musical instruments. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OHSA) states that for workplace noise/music, sounds above 90 dB are considered damaging to hearing. Yet, many audiologists believe that anything above 85 dB is potentially hurtful.

Exposure to loud sounds for brief spurts will probably do no harm. It's the repeated, long-term exposure that wounds the hearing. If you allow your child to play for hours in the bedroom with an ear piercing toy or beat on a drum you increase his possibility of hearing loss. If you must yell over the roar to be heard, it's probably injuring his hearing. If you have concerns that a toy is too loud, trust your gut, it probably is.

So what's a parent to do to protect children's hearing?

Teach your kids to play with a loud toy at arm's length. You know from experience that distance affects the intensity of sound - the farther away the weaker the power. Keep the harsh noise away from their precious ears. If necessary, remove the batteries before they plays with certain noisemakers.

Limit the amount of time loud items can be played with. "Loss is related both to the power of the sound as well as the length of exposure," warns the AAO.

Require your youngsters to wear ear protection when playing with popguns, firecrackers, or musical instruments, especially drums.

Avoid giving your kids headsets to music equipment or the TV because they often turn up the volume to dangerous levels. If they already have these, instruct them in proper listening limits. Both my daughters have boom boxes, portable CD players and now they want an IPOD® with headsets. With each, I've taken time to show which number on the volume control represents safe listening for them. . . and my nerves.

Don't allow your kids to sit close to the speakers at a rock concert. "At rock shows," warns hearnet.com, "the dB level can be as great as 140 dB in front of the speakers." That's as loud as a jet engine. Even at the back of a rock concert, where the sound is less than 120 dB, it's still very loud and dangerous.

Finally, be attentive to the items within your home that can emit 90 dB or more. These include pianos, a car horn, lawn mowers, power tools, snowmobiles, or even telephones set to the loudest ring. Refrain from a constant torrent of loud sounds like putting your infant in a backpack and mowing the grass. That hour-long exposure is too long on unprotected ears.

The AAO says you can not "toughen up" the ears. If you or your child thinks you've grown used to a loud sound, it probably has "damaged your ears, and there is no treatment - no medicine, no surgery, not even a hearing aid that truly corrects your hearing once it is damaged by noise."

We all want our kids to have fun and to have toys, however smart parents use caution when purchasing ones that are loud noisemakers. Remember permanent harm can come from the intense, prolonged sounds. We invest too much in our children to allow a manufacturer to steal their hearing.

For decibel trivia go to www.hearnet.com/at_risk/risk_trivia.shtml. Free hearing publications can be ordered at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, www.nidcd.nih.gov/order/pubs_title.asp.

Copyright 2001, rev. 2005, Brenda Nixon