Britt van Rij (18) and Carolijn van Straaten (19) quickly arrange theirclothes before entering the main hall of the Rotterdam pop stage Annabel. Thenumber Wild Thoughts by Rihanna blares from the speakers, but neither ofthem wear hearing protection.
‘My father has to do that,’ says Van Rij. “But good earplugs are expensive andthey don’t fit well.” Then rather a ring in the ears when she is in bed aftergoing out. “I have that often enough,” she says. ‘Always, actually’, adds VanStraaten. ‘Very interesting,’ says Van Rij.
The laconic attitude towards hearing damage is shared by many visitors whocome to the danceable hits in Annabel on Saturday evening. This is in starkcontrast to the urgent appeal from ear doctors, hearing care professionals andthe Hoormij patient association. They believe that the sound in nightlifevenues, concert halls and festivals should be softer. Hearing specialists seean increase in the number of young people knocking on the door with tinnitusdue to noise damage. This is due to loud music in the nightlife, but also, forexample, due to headphones at too high a volume.
Medical student Kate Frenzen (21) has learned all about it. Between 1 and 2million Dutch people suffer from tinnitus. In 50 thousand of them, theringing, ringing or whistling in their ears is so bad that it takes over theirlives. Yet she has forgotten her earplugs. ‘I can immediately see all dyinghearing cells in front of me. But yeah, now I’m not going back home.’
Responsible volume
In 2018, the government agreed with festivals, music venues, studentassociations, cinemas and gyms that they would limit the noise level to 103decibels. That covenant expires on December 7, and that is an excellent momentto adjust the standard, according to the Dutch Association for Ear-Nose-Eyeology. The volume of the music should not exceed 100 decibels. The nightcatering industry, which did not sign the covenant four years ago, should alsobelieve in a responsible volume. State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen of Health,Welfare and Sport is awaiting advice from the Health Council in Novemberbefore taking any measures.
‘Even at 100 decibels you will incur damage without hearing protection’, saysHenri Marres, professor of ENT surgery at Radboud University and chairman ofthe ENT doctors’ association. ‘Earplugs muffle the sound by about 15 to 20decibels. At a limit of 100 decibels, you fall, with earplugs in, just withinthe safe range of 80 to 85 decibels. That is the limit set by the WorkingConditions Act: at more than 85 decibels you are obliged to wear hearingprotection.’
Just below the speakers in Annabel, Karel Brand (23) is dancing exuberantly.He is one of the few in the room whose ears sparkle with earplugs. “Hearingdamage is no joke,” he says. ‘I don’t feel like tinnitus’. Robert Stokroos,professor of ear surgery at the University Medical Center Utrecht, doubtswhether there are actually more young people who suffer from tinnitus. Thefigures are difficult to compare, because there is little data from the past.’Nevertheless, there is no question that tinnitus is a major problem and thatprevention is necessary.’
Turning back the volume knob is not the solution, says Ramon de Lima, nightmayor of Amsterdam. Three notches softer doesn’t seem like much, but thedecibel scale is logarithmic. This means that a reduction of three decibels isequivalent to halving the sound pressure, reducing sound perception by 20percent. ‘This makes the experience of a club night completely different’,says De Lima. ‘When the sound becomes much weaker, you no longer feel thevibrations of the bass in your body and the buzz drowns out the music. In anightclub you have to be able to lose yourself in the music on a swirlingdance floor.’
That’s exactly what happens after midnight at Poing nightclub, a stone’s throwfrom Annabel. Under red fluorescent tubes, a crowd of people moves to thetrance beats that Dj CyberFairy777 – with white elf wings on his back – pumpsinto the hall. The sound thumps against the eardrums.
At the bar is Lindsay (25), who for privacy reasons prefers not to use herlast name in the newspaper. She unfolds her hand. In her palm lie two clearearplugs. “Tailor-made,” she says. “All my friends wear them too. I’m tryingto become a DJ, so it’s important that I hear well.’ It is better to invest ingood earplugs than to lower the volume, she thinks. ‘That way I still feel thebass in my chest, and without it I feel empty.’
‘Compare it with smoking’
‘It sounds edifying’, says professor Marres, ‘but we have to get rid of theconviction that going out is not complete without loud noise. Everyone shouldrecognize that some things are exaggerated. To limit tinnitus, the public hasto change its behavior: stand less close to the speakers, always wear earplugsand give the ears a rest now and then. Legislation for a lower volume createslittle support, that should be a last measure.’ Compare it with smoking, saysprofessor Stokroos. ‘In the past, cigarettes were everywhere on the table, butthirty years later that is unthinkable. People must now also become aware ofthe consequences of loud noise.’
In Poing, that consciousness slowly penetrates. “When I woke up this morningto last night’s ringing in my ears, I was still thinking about buying caps,”says Garry Satisfied (40). ‘Because now that I think about it, it’s kind ofweird: I carefully select my sunglasses for the right strength and fit, but Idon’t pay attention to my ears.’