Surely a couple of Christmas days you are tired of some noisy toys. Precisely those that are the ones that the boy or girl seems to like most among all the gifts of Santa Claus. But, If the noisy toy has no volume control, it may be best to turn it off, as it can be harmful to children.
According to the WHO, inside the homes a volume of 30 or 35 decibels already causes interference in the communication and interruption of sleep, while from 70 decibels (with continued exposure) hearing impairment could already occur.
If exposure to intense noise is continued, it disrupts sleep, affects children's cognitive development and can cause psychosomatic diseases. Other effects in children, such as alterations in the level of blood pressure, are still being investigated.
In fact, given that noise disturbance is considered a health problem, there are plans such as the "Children's environment and health" in Europe that aims to protect children from exposure to harmful noise both at home and at school.
At home, children play with their gifts regardless of the volume, approaching the toys to the face and ear and many times without knowing how to control the volume (if you can) and without limits on the time of play. That is why we must be attentive to the sound level and lower it when possible, or limit its use so that it is not harmful to the sensitive ears of the little ones.
The Oír charitable Foundation is the key to attention to hearing impairment has warned about the dangers of sound toys from 60 decibels. Based on the study of the American Association of Sight and Hearing on the intensity of noisy toys that are launched on the market at this time, they point out that many toys exceed 85 dB, which is the maximum level allowed by American law.
From the list of 20 toys, three emit a sound so intense that it can cause a hearing injury after 15 minutes of exposure and another five more can cause hearing problems after 30 minutes of play.
To protect children's hearing
As we still have a second batch of gifts in the letters to the Magi, here are some tips regarding toys:
Check the intensity of the sound they emit: sometimes it is registered in the description of the characteristics of the toy itself; You can also check directly in the store with a sound level meter that can be downloaded from your mobile.
Buy those toys that have volume control or do not exceed 85 decibels.
If the sound is very loud, use adhesive tape on the speakers to reduce the intensity, although be careful if the child is small because it could tear the tape and it is a new danger. In these cases, perhaps the best is the most drastic solution: remove the batteries from the toy or make it "get lost" for a season.
Teach your children not to take loud toys to their ears while they play.
Limit loud play time.
Leave the noisiest toys to play outside the home, where the impact is much less.
So you know, attention to noisy toys, as they could harm children's hearing health. Sometimes not only the volume control is needed, sometimes the shutdown button is essential.
