Hearing protection experts agree that Vuvuzela should be banned.
Dr Ivan Tucker OBE, Chief Executive of Mary Hare (pictured left), has spoken out against the World Cup organising committee for not taking action to ban the trumpet.
“Through our Hearing Centres we work with people that often come into contact with noise around the same sort of level (about 130 decibels) and we recommend they use the highest level of protection available.
“Being exposed to noise at 127dB for more than 1 second is harmful, so if for instance, you were standing in front of one of these things for a full 90 minutes, you are almost guaranteed to incur lasting damage to your hearing.
In fact, a recent World Health Organisation publicatio stated that listening at 105dB for just 15 minutes can cause irreperable damage - so at the sort of level these Vuvzelas reach, we are looking at a very serious problem, for an enormous number of people."
Few people would have thought that South Africa 2010 would offer an opportunity for people all over the World to consider hearing protection but thanks to the ubiquitous Vuvuzela, awareness of the subject has seen unprecedented growth.
The Mary Hare charity has been working alongside the noise abatement society and Ascent Hearing Care, to raise issues of hearing protection through schools.
The project was started in response to a recent EU study on “Newly Identified Health Risks” which states that “it could be commonplace in 2020 to see one in ten 30 year olds wearing a hearing aid because of irreversible hearing damage.”
Dr Tucker, who is a Doctor of Paedetric Audiology and trustee of Deafness Research UK, concluded his thoughts saying: “I would suggest it would be irresponsible for FIFA to not intervene in this matter as the potential threat to thousands of people’s hearing per match is quite considerable.”
For more informatino about how to protect your hearing and how to have an assessment look at our hearing services online.
