Sound is measured in decibels. Decibel levels begin at zero, comparable to sounds of moving leaves. A whisper is 30 decibels and normal conversational speech is about 60 decibels. However, since decibels use a logarithmic scale, an incremental increase in decibels produces an enormous increase in loudness - an increase of 10 decibels means that a sound is 10 times more powerful. Studies show that prolonged exposure to sounds at or above 85dB can damage hearing. The louder the sound, the shorter the amount of time it takes for possible hearing loss to occur. For example, firecrackers can reach 150 decibels and will cause hearing damage much more quickly than exposure to a power lawn mower at 90 decibels.
The chart graphically illustrates some common noises and their respective dB levels.
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