Home > Hearing Issues > Children Issues > Toys, The Unforeseen Hazard

Toys that go boom, bang or rattle may damage your child's hearing. Musical toys such as xylophones and drums, noisemakers, 'play' guns and even baby rattles all make noise. Toys that produce explosive sounds, such as cap guns, are the worst culprit and may cause potential hearing loss. Some of these toys can produce sound levels up to 139 decibels...enough to suffer a hearing loss after one exposure.

Typical Sound Levels
Gun shot..........................140 decibels
Jets taking off...................130 decibels
Rock concert.................95-115 decibels
Car horn honking...............105 decibels
Electric shaver....................85 decibels
Telephone ringing...............65 decibels
Normal conversation............45 decibels

An acceptable noise level for a toy would be 65 decibels. The federal government recommends that toys should not produce noise levels greater than 100 decibels. Daily exposure to these sound levels, even if only for a few minutes at a time, can produce temporary hearing loss that could lead to permanent damage.

Noise regulation levels for capguns and other explosive toys fall under guidelines set by Energy, Mines and Resources Canada, which set the limit at 156 decibels. That would be equivalent to a cannon blasting on a battlefield. This can cause irreversible damage after only a few exposures.

Hearing loss in children often goes undetected. Children who are easily distracted, or have a problem of attention or concentration may actually be experiencing a hearing loss, unaware to those around them, especially themselves. The first signs may be a reduced ability to understand speech in background noise. Early detection of hearing loss in children is imperative in order for them to develop their speech and language appropriately. If you or someone you know have a child who is not responding well, or is delayed in their speech and language, that child should be seen by an audiologist for a hearing test. No child is too young to test!