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Noisy Christmas Toys Can Damage Hearing

December 13, 2006

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Many toys available this Christmas could damage your child's hearing, according to the UK-based charity Deafness Research UK.

Working with researcher Dr. Brad Backus from University College London (UCL), the charity tested the noise levels produced by a selection of toys available to buy this Christmas.

Almost all (14 out of 15) of the toys tested produced noise levels above the recommended safety limit of 85dB when held close to the ear. Half of the toys tested had levels above or very near recommended safety limits when measured about an arm's length away.

The most dangerous toys by far were found to be toy guns. A mechanical toy machine gun, a plastic tommy gun, and a cap gun were tested and all were found to have noise levels that exceed recommended limits, making them the most dangerous toys available on the high street. These guns have the potential to cause serious damage to your child's hearing and could cause instant hearing loss.

The research was commissioned by Deafness Research UK, the country's only charity dedicated to finding new cures, treatments, and technologies for deafness and hearing loss. Fifteen noise-emitting toys were tested including those aimed at children from 3 months up to 15 years old.

All the toys tested are available this Christmas and they include bestsellers such as Pixar Cars "Lightening McQueen," Fireman Sam's Action Jupiter and Tomy's "Spin n'Sound" remote-controlled car.

For toys, 85dB is the recommended safety limit for noise exposure, prolonged exposure to anything above this level has the potential to cause damage to hearing. 14 of the 15 toys were found to have average noise levels of between 84dB and 115dB when held close to the microphone. Only one, a VTECH mobile phone for babies, was found to have a noise level below the safety threshold.

When tested at a realistic distance a child would hold the toy during normal play, 8 of the 15 toys had average levels ranging from 81dB to 105dB. Laser Command, an electronic phaser game, had a level of 88.6dB while Pixar Cars ‘Lightening McQueen' had a level just below the threshold at 82.5dB.

How a child plays with a toy can strongly influence the risk to his or her hearing. How far the child holds the toy from his ear and how long and how often the child plays with a toy are the critical factors.

"Children's toys clearly have the potential to do harm to their hearing so it's important that people are aware of the dangers and what to do about them. With most of the toys we tested, apart from the guns, there is a potential for harm but they're safe if used sensibly. With most toys, your child will only damage their hearing if they use them too often and for too long a duration, or if they stick them in their ear," said Dr. Backus.

"Our advice is pretty simple: don't let your child hold noisy toys too close to their ear and don't let them play with them for more than an hour a day. Most parents probably don't want to listen to these toys for too long anyway," he continued.

Three mechanical toy guns were tested -- a machine gun, a tommy gun and a cap gun. These were found to have noise levels between 130db and 143 dB.

"While many of the toys had noise levels that were loud enough to be of concern, the toy guns we tested were extremely noisy and these are what we're most concerned about," said Dr. Backus. "They were so loud that my ears were ringing for a while after the testing. If I had children, I wouldn't give any of these gun-toys to them, and I would recommend that people avoid them. They have the very real potential to cause permanent hearing loss."

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