A great new update for the Apple Watch ® allows you to check the decibels of your surrounding environment. This handy little app can help you avoid loud areas, or give you the opportunity to understand the importance of using ear protection. With such great information readily available, one of the questions we would need to ask ourselves is, “how loud is too loud”?

According to the Hearing Health Foundation, normal conversation is about 60dB (decibels), a hairdryer is 70dB and a dishwasher is 75dB. None of those have maximum time limits when it comes to gradual hearing loss. But, the Centers for Disease Control does set recommended exposure limits for sounds 85dB and above.

What does 85dB sound like though? At 85dB, this can be the sound of heavy traffic. For just a little louder at 88dB, this could be the sound of a common food blender. For 91dB, this is loud shouting, and for 94dB, it could be the sound of a city subway. With this new app, you can be proactive and measure the DBS of your surrounding environment. It will actively let you know whether your surroundings can be detrimental to your hearing health.

If you are uncertain, you can open the app and see what it registers in the dB surrounding you. With the Noise app, you can also set a decibel threshold in the app and receive a notification if the surrounding noise reaches or exceeds that level. If you are at a location you can’t leave, but the noise volume is registering as too high, you can be preventative by popping in ear plugs, or allowing yourself to take a break from the loud noise. To learn more about how earplugs can help protect your ears while you can continue enjoying activities, read more here.