Call for regulations to control the level of sound in cinemas

The National Association for Deaf People (NAD) has called for the strict regulation of sound levels in cinemas after new films were found to exceed safety limits.

Ms Sandra O'Brien, deputy chief executive of the association, said "cinema managers should wake up to the dangers of exposing staff and customers to high noise levels. Factory workers are safeguarded from hearing injuries. Why not the general public?"

She was commenting after the publication of a report by the British Standards Institution which found that film-makers and advertisers were exploiting the absence of a maximum noise limit to increase the volume past the 85-decibel danger level.

Blockbusters like Star Wars - The Phantom Menace and Godzilla exceeded 100 decibels while the climax of the Bruce Willis film Armageddon topped the poll at 110 decibels.

Ms O'Brien warned that prolonged exposure to loud noise could result in hearing loss or tinnitus, a permanent ringing in the ears.

Under Health and Safety Authority regulations, employers are required to provide hearing protection to workers when levels exceed 85 decibels. However, there is no legislation providing similar protection to the general public.

Pain can be caused after an hour's exposure to 90 decibels or 20 minutes to 100 decibels.

"People go to the cinema for the big-screen, Dolby sound experience but that shouldn't be at the expense of their hearing," said Ms O'Brien.

Mr Leo Ward, of the Irish cinema chain Ward Anderson, which includes the Savoy in Dublin, said he would raise the issue at a meeting with film distributors next week. He said distributors normally decided the volume at which any film should be run and cinemas altered that only if customers complained.

"Occasionally, you do get complaints from older people, but for the younger crowd it can't be loud enough."

As well as criticising film-makers, the British cinema report condemned advertisers for the practice of jolting viewers by suddenly increasing volumes. Film trailers, it found, were the noisiest of ads as they usually featured explosions and stunts.

Ms Jean Scott, chairwoman of the Irish Tinnitus Association, said young people needed to be more aware about the potential dangers of activities which involved continuous exposure to loud noise such as cinema-going or clubbing.

"We are rearing a generation of people living at higher noise levels who are going to have hearing loss in later life," she warned.

A recent survey by the UK-based Royal National Institute for the Deaf found that reports of tinnitus were three times higher in young people exposed to excessive loud noise. The louder the music and the longer the exposure the higher the risk, it said.

Only 20 per cent of those surveyed expressed concern about hearing loss. Yet nearly half experienced hearing problems after exposure to loud music, 62 per cent after attending night clubs and 72 per cent after rock concerts.