# Will background PC whirr make me deaf?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-background-pc-whirr-make-me-deaf/170451
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 22, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-background-pc-whirr-make-me-deaf/170451 "2003-04-22T23:43:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-background-pc-whirr-make-me-deaf/170451/1 "2003-04-22T23:43:20Z")
Sequential thread? Or something like it.
I helped move 13 machines into a 42U rack last week, now the studio is about 50% quieter.
All those fans added up to a 30-40 decibel background noise, infront of them all (in the old rack, which had no door) the volume must have been around 80 decibels.
Can this whirring hiss make me deaf? I imagine so, but that’s only my imagination… What say you?
---
### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-background-pc-whirr-make-me-deaf/170451/2 "2003-04-22T23:53:17Z")
Probably not. The OSHA recommendation for noise exposure is a maximum of 85 dB for 8 hours per day. That’s quite alot louder than 80dB (despite the closeness of the numbers. Each 3db represents a doubling of the sound pressure level).
---
### Author:  [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-background-pc-whirr-make-me-deaf/170451/3 "2003-04-23T00:04:45Z")
I didn’t know that! (the doubling every 3db)
So 28db is half as loud as a 31db? Ha!
Having read that, the PCs were probably not 80db, probably 50-60 at most.