How Loud Are Your Lawn Tools?

Caring for your lawn might lead to curb appeal, but it also just might lead to something less appealing — hearing loss. Read on for details and protection tips!

Summer is here, and so are all of the sounds that accompany this time of year: birds singing, children laughing, neighbors chatting — and lawn equipment. Maintaining your property is a noisy affair. Once you’ve used the mower, leaf blower, chain saw, and string trimmer, your ears have put up with quite a racket. In fact, around 40 million U.S. adults aged 20–69 years (about one in four) have noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) — and more than half of those don’t have a noisy job. So how noisy is lawn care, exactly?

What is Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL)?

Hearing happens when the hair cells in your inner ear convert sound waves to electrical signals, and these electrical signals get sent to your brain to be interpreted as sounds. When these hair cells get damaged, that means a reduced ability to hear. NIHL is hearing damage caused by exposure to loud noise, which damages your hair cells.

How loud is too loud?

You might be thinking, “OK, but how loud can all my lawn equipment actually be?” Your hedge trimmer alone can damage your hearing after seven or eight minutes of unprotected exposure. The key to navigating your loud lawn is decibels, the basic unit of sound intensity. Sounds below 85 decibels (dB) are safe for unprotected human ears. At 85 dB and above, you’re at risk of hurting your ears: Take steps to protect your ears or risk hearing damage.

Let’s take a look at some common yard-care machines and the impact they can have on your unprotected ears. For comparison, a typical indoor conversation is about 60 dB.

• Push or riding lawn mower. At 90 dB, hearing damage can occur in 2.5 hours.

• Edger/string trimmer. At 96 dB, hearing damage can occur in 38 minutes.

• Leaf blower. At 99 dB, hearing damage can occur in 19 minutes.

• Pressure washer. At 100 dB — just one more decibel than a leaf blower — hearing damage can occur in 15 minutes rather than 19 minutes.

• Hedge trimmer. At 103 dB, hearing damage can occur in 7.5 minutes.

• Chain saw. At a whopping 110 dB, hearing damage starts after 1.5 minutes.

With sound levels like that, it’s no wonder that noise-induced hearing loss is so common. However, the good news is that NIHL can be easily and inexpensively prevented with hearing protection. Hearing protection is a proven, effective way to minimize the risk of hearing damage, and it doesn’t have to mean a muffled, uncomfortable experience for the wearer.

You can often get earplugs at a pharmacy or supermarket, and there are also over-the-counter options that allow conversation to come through but block loud noises. You can even buy custom-fit earplugs that match the contours of your ears for maximum comfort and protection. Maico’s hearing care professionals are available to recommend the best hearing protection for your individual needs.