Online-only: New research shows sports venues can be hazardous to hearing
=========================================================================

* Kim Krisberg

Fans and officials at sports arenas might have their eyes on the game, but it is their ears they should be watching out for, according to new research.

Two studies published in November in the *Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene* examined potentially hazardous noise levels at sports venues and their effects on attendees, game officials and venue employees. Both studies found that sporting event noises are potentially harmful to hearing, and one study found that officials have a greater prevalence of hearing trouble.

“These two papers describe a health hazard…that is prevalent but pretty much unappreciated in the world of sports,” said Mark Nicas, PhD, MPH, CIH, the journal’s editor-in-chief, in a news release. “While severe traumatic injuries and degenerative brain disorders due to concussive blows are recognized as severe hazards among athletes, exposure to high noise likely affects far more individuals — spectators and referees — and the resulting permanent hearing loss decreases the quality of life of those affected. We hope these papers will alert the sports world to explore preventive measures.”

The first study examined occupational and recreational noise exposure at indoor arena hockey games, noting that noise-induced hearing loss is “preventable through training, education and the use of personal protective equipment.” Researchers recruited ushers and fans at two hockey venues and fitted them with personal noise dosimeters, which measure noise levels. Noise samples were measured over a number of games and compared to criteria from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists.

Results found that 40 percent of workers and 33 percent of fans at the first venue were exposed to noise levels that exceeded safe exposure levels as specified by the hygienists organization’s criteria. At the second venue, 58 percent of workers and 91 percent of fans sampled were exposed to levels that exceeded the organization’s criteria. However, none of the results exceeded OSHA criteria at either venue. Study authors noted that enrolling workers in a hearing safety program was recommended to officials at both venues studied.

The second study examined self-reported hearing status among sports officials in Michigan and the use of whistles as a contributing factor. Researchers surveyed more than 300 sports officials registered with the Michigan High School Athletic Association about their exposure to whistle noise and symptoms of hearing loss and tinnitus, which is a ringing in the ears. About 20 percent of participants reported “a little trouble” with their hearing. The study also found that participants reported greater rates of hearing trouble when compared to the general population of the Midwest, especially among 30- to 39-year-olds. In regard to tinnitus, about 50 percent of study participants reported the problem after officiating a game, and about 13 percent reported “almost always” experiencing tinnitus after a game.

Researchers also found that the sounds produced by sports officials’ whistles may be contributing to hearing loss.

Study co-author Gregory Flamme, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at Western Michigan University, said one of the main take-away messages of the study is that “secondary occupations matter,” noting that the majority of study participants were not officiating sports as their primary job. In turn, he said, it is important that health providers consider that the noise exposure in a person’s primary job may only be part of a larger problem. He also recommended that hearing impairment surveillance begin before middle age.

“To see these (hearing loss) effects show up in a person’s 30s is very early and the problem with these kinds of hearing losses is that once you get them, you don’t get better,” Flamme told *The Nation’s Health*. “Hearing impairment is commonly thought to be an old-age problem, but if you look at folks who have worse hearing in older age, there were plenty of signs of hearing impairment years before.”

Flamme also noted that not all whistles are equally hazardous.

“There’s no good reason to choose (a whistle) that does any more than the minimum required to make a signal heard and right now, it seems we’re going well above that,” he said.

For more information on the studies, visit [www.acgih.org/resources/press/Noise-Hazards\_pr.htm](http://www.acgih.org/resources/press/Noise-Hazards_pr.htm).

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association