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Balloons louder than guns to children

Wednesday 15th February 2017
The sounds of balloons popping can be more damaging to their hearing than a gunshot heard at close range. Image: jakkapan21 via iStock
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The sound of a balloon being popped can be more damaging to a small child's hearing than the noise made by a gunshot at close range, according to a new study.

A team of researchers from the University of Alberta have been investigating just how loud balloons appear to children and how damaging they could be for their future hearing function.

The scientists decided to pop balloons in three different ways - with a pin, by crushing them and by blowing them up until they ruptured - while measuring how many decibels their popping sounds came in at.

It was found that the loudest bang came from the balloon that was blown up until it couldn't stretch any further and subsequently ruptured, with the sound of this registering at 168 decibels.

To put this into perspective, the sound made by a 12-gauge shotgun when it is fired registers at 164 decibels, meaning popping a balloon is four decibels louder.

As a result, this could be extremely damaging to children whose ears and hearing are still developing, as frequent exposure to such loud noises could lead to hearing function declining over time.

The researchers stressed that their findings do not mean hearing a balloon pop at a birthday party will automatically result in damage to the hearing, but rather that parents should be aware that frequent exposure to loud noises could have a lasting effect on their child's hearing.

This should also be something that audiologists are looking out for signs of when treating young patients so that advice can be given to prevent further damage occurring in the future.

Co-author of the study Bill Hodgetts explained: "This research is a conversation starter. Hearing loss is insidious - every loud noise that occurs has a potential lifelong impact.

"We want people to be mindful of hearing damage over a lifetime, because once you get to the back end of life, no hearing aid is as good as the once healthy built-in system in your inner ear."

Written by James Puckle

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