# Can ultrasonic sound damage your hearing?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ultrasonic-sound-damage-your-hearing/246625>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 23, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ultrasonic-sound-damage-your-hearing/246625 "2004-05-23T06:26:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![guestman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@guestman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guestman)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ultrasonic-sound-damage-your-hearing/246625/1 "2004-05-23T06:26:30Z")

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I’ve been trying to get a solid answer on that, but no luck so far. From what I’ve read, it seems that ultrasonic sound can at worst cause nausea and/or a headache; however, the damaging factor of a sound wave is its intensity. The pitch has more to do with annoyance levels than actual harm. So that would mean a high-dB noise could be damaging regardless of audibility, right? But I’ve also found a bunch of articles and safety papers that say there’s no serious health risks in prolonged exposure to loud, ultrasonic noise (_takes deep breath_) – though they also point out that no in-depth testing has been done.

So, my question is this: would an ultrasonic sound in excess of, say, 120 dB cause serious problems with subjects that couldn’t hear it?

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**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ultrasonic-sound-damage-your-hearing/246625/2 "2004-05-23T06:59:06Z")

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I’ve done a lot of work with computed sonography machines, the kind that give you pictures of a baby in the womb or a beating heart.  
These have been proven quite safe and have been thoroughly tested for twenty years.  
However if you are talking about something like traffic or subway train vibrations that are just below the hearing threshold, yes they are a problem, and will affect the hearing in the low ranges. This is particulary a problem in factory settings, and OSHA has rules about monitoring for it.

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**Author:** ![guestman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@guestman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guestman)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ultrasonic-sound-damage-your-hearing/246625/3 "2004-05-23T16:30:16Z")

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Ahhh, ok. So ultrasonic is safe at any volume, but those at the fringe of the threshold and infrasonic ones aren’t?

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**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ultrasonic-sound-damage-your-hearing/246625/4 "2004-05-23T22:04:39Z")

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According to [noisefree.org](http://www.noisefree.org/misconceptions.html)

> [@](#):
>
> General Misconceptions about Sound and Hearing
> 
> Loud sound is not dangerous, as long as you don’t feel any pain in your ears.
> 
> Not true: Our threshold for pain is at about 120 - 140 dB SPL but sound begins to damage our hearing when it is above 85 dB  
> SPL (for a 8 hour period).
> 
> Loud sound only damages your hearing.
> 
> Not true: Loud sound can change your heart rate, vision and reaction time. It may make you more aggressive and in general, negatively affect you.

[This article](http://www.citidep.pt/papers/articles/alvesper.htm) also describes Vibroacoustic disease.