Would OSHA Ban Vuvuzelas From US Stadiums?

(June 23) -- Federal safety investigators would probably shut down the World Cup soccer playoffs if they were being held in the U.S. The noise levels saturating the stadium in Pretoria far exceed the legal limits for sound, and scientists warn that deafness may result.

And the hearing-annihilating horns may soon be coming to a stadium near you.

At the soccer playoffs, the penetrating sounds spewing from 39-inch-long plastic horns called vuvuzelas are likely damaging, even destroying, the hearing of players, referees and security forces as well of many of the thousands of spectators crammed into Loftus Versfeld Stadium, says a study in the South African Medical Journal.

The horn, crafted by Neil Van Schalkwyk, a Cape Town plastics worker, was modeled after the real horns of the woodland Kudu antelope. Those horns were used for centuries by tribes throughout southern Africa to communicate to villagers over great distances.

It probably worked well in the bush, because it's definitely rattling eardrums in and around the stadiums.

The incessant buzzing of thousand of horns has been characterized as everything from the drone of a million bees to the wail of a herd of goats being dragged to slaughter to a tsunami of every penetrating noise there is. But it's not the sound that deafens; rather it's the volume of that sound, which is measured in decibels.

The South African researchers found the noise in the stadium "reached dangerously high levels," averaging 131 decibels but up to 144 decibels. At these levels, permanent damage can be done in as little as 15 minutes. The average soccer match runs an hour-and-a-half, they reported.

The danger is magnified because thousands of vuvuzelas are being blown at the same time during a match.

Too much noise exposure may cause a temporary change in hearing, your ears may feel stuffed up, or you can suffer tinnitus, which is a temporary ringing in your ears. Repeated exposures to loud noise can lead to permanent, incurable hearing loss or tinnitus.

In the U.S., the Occupational Safety and Health Administration specifies that workers can be exposed to a maximum permissible exposure of 90 decibels for an eight-hour work day.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the worker safety research arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says noise-induced hearing loss is 100 percent preventable, but once acquired, hearing loss is permanent and irreversible.

"Noise-induced loss of hearing is an irreversible, sensorineural (nerve damage) condition that progresses with exposure," NIOSH experts explain. This noise-induced loss is caused by damage to nerve cells of the inner ear (cochlea) and, unlike some conductive hearing disorders, cannot be treated medically.

Let's look at some noise levels to put the screeching from the plastic horns in perspective.

The NIOSH health and safety detectives have measured noise at the pit areas at stock car races and found the noise averaged above 100 decibels while engine adjustments were made on the cars and during refueling, both before and during the races.

The finding from this study shows that danger increases with proximity to the source of the noise.

For example, NIOSH says the exposure at the race depended on where you were. The recommended exposure limit for eight hours was reached in less than a minute for a driver during practice, within several minutes for team members in the pits and less than one hour for spectators during the race.

Spectators at a monster truck show were exposed to average noise levels from 95 to 100 decibels, according to a health hazard study by audiologists and other NIOSH specialists from its Division of Applied Research and Technology.

A jet taking off can reach 120 decibels as it's lifting off, and, that level is sometimes matched in concerts, depending on who's playing.

Public health experts are worried about hazards that accompany use of the horns. With everyone blowing hard into their vuvuzelas, flu viruses and bacteria can be spread over a large number of people as a fine mist of spittle is spewed upon other spectators.

Here to stay

It appears unlikely that the vuvuzela will fade out with the end of the games.

APR's Marketplace reports that Chinese plastic factories were cranking out 200,000 faux African horns a day before the World Cup began. Now, about 20,000 a day are coming off the assembly line because Chinese entrepreneurs see a growing worldwide market and anticipate the irritating noise-maker will be adopted by baseball and football zealots in the U.S.

It's already happening.

The Palm Beach Post says that the Florida Marlins will be giving out horns similar to vuvuzelas to the first 15,000 fans in attendance at Saturday night's game against the Rays.

The horns are already being sold on the Web in "any team color"; many British stores offer them for about $8 each.

Meanwhile, back in South Africa, Van Schalkwyk, who first produced and marketed the vuvuzela horn in 2001, says he will continue to sell the noise-makers but now will include a pair of earplugs with each horn.