Children's hearing could be permanently damaged by many popular toys given at Christmas, U.S. researchers said Wednesday.
They bought 23 toys and measured how loud they were when held next to the ear and at a child's arm length away, according to a report in the New Scientist magazine.Next to the ear, seven toys exceeded 115 decibels, stipulated by the U.S. government as a level of noise no worker should be exposed to even for a second. The worst offenders were a bicycle horn, a flute and a popgun.
Even at arm's length, many toys were dangerously noisy with the flute registering 118 decibels.
The researchers from Henry Ford Health Systems, Mich. said the 115-decibel limit was set for adults and children's ears were much more sensitive. Also children were prone to "test" toys right next to each other's ears.