Super-Fast Hand Dryers and Hearing Loss Written by Tom Rokins If you are reading this, then you probably suspect what the answer may be. Sadly, your suspicions would seem to be correct - it would seem that yes, the relatively new "super-fast" hand dryers can indeed negatively impact your hearing. A recent study has suggested that the new models of hand dryers can have a fairly severe effect - they can have the same impact on your hearing as a pneumatic drill at close range would. How Have They Passed Safety Testing? It would seem as though they have successfully got through the typical barrage of safety tests simply via inaccuracies in the testing conditions - the product testing labs are significantly larger than your typical public toilet, and as such the final results were almost irrelevant. Various researchers from Goldsmiths, University of London carried out this study, testing the acoustics in a lab of a "box shape" typical of public toilets. The results of this new study carried some startling findings: the noise levels recorded were eleven times as high as the ones reported by the product testing labs! The head of the Goldsmiths sound practice research unit, Dr John Levack Drever, claimed that the difference in results was down to the "ultra-absorbent" acoustic lab environments, and how greatly they affect the noise in comparison to the real-life outcome in a public toilet. This latter environment would see the noise being "vastly amplified" due to the "highly reverberant and reflective" surroundings. What Can Be Done to Correct This? Dr Levack seems to think that the answer is simple: ditch the laboratories. To get a more realistic approach - one that is applicable to a real world scenario - they need to conduct their tests in a more realistic environment. Levack states that users need to come together with engineers and sound artists in order to "tune the products accordingly", so that they make less noise in the typical hand dryer locations. Basically, more needs to be done to prevent this issue. The worst thing about losing your hearing is the obvious one - you can no longer hear. No one wants to go deaf. Try and limit your usage of super-fast hand dryers if you can. _______________________________________________________ So what have we learned by this article? Ditch the noisy dryers and just air dry, or use the tried and true paper wipes and save your hearing!
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 15:07:44 +0000