Special Report: Getting An Earful

From top 40 favorites to the latest techno tunes, stores are making sure their shoppers keep the beat while they browse.

Shopper
"I like to shop and listen to music. It's pretty good to me. I like shopping and like you know."

But not everyone loves the loud music.

Shopper
"I don't care what the music is, just it doesn't have to be blaring."

And 7News found those blaring tunes could hurt your hearing.

We took our hidden camera into the aisles to see and hear for ourselves and used a digital handheld sound meter. The sound levels we found were alarming.

At the Armani Exchange store in Boston, where the dance beats were pumping, the music registered in the mid 80s on our meter.

Dr. Clarke Cox, Boston Medical Center
"Eighty five decibels, that's the cut-off point for the hazardous level. So federal guidelines say that if you're exposed to noise above 85 decibels, that in fact you can have hearing damage occur."

At our next stop the tunes were taken up a notch. Abercrombie & Fitch in Cambridge rang in levels up to 90 decibels. And the closer we got to the speaker, the more ear piercing, hitting an astounding 95 decibels.

Dr. Clarke Cox, Boston Medical Center
"Someone in there for 30 minutes could experience hearing loss. And those employees that work there could definitely be experiencing hearing loss. That's a very hazardous level, 95."

A former Abercrombie & Fitch employee knows all too well the toll these tunes can take.

Samantha Nesto, Former Abercrombie & Fitch Employee
"On a scale of one to 10 this was definitely like an eight or nine, I would say. It was really ridiculously loud. You really didn't want to stay there for longer than your shift."

Next we headed to Hollister, also in Cambridge, where our producer heard the music even before entering the store. Inside, the levels topped the charts, averaging in the high 90s, and even hitting 100 decibels. That's equal to the sound of a chain saw.

Dr. Clarke Cox, Boston Medical Center
"Somebody shopping there for more than 15 to 20 minutes, they might, in fact, experience some hearing loss."

7News contacted the stores. The Armani Exchange did not return our repeated calls for comment. Abercrombie & Fitch, which is also the parent company for Hollister, responded saying, "Our stores have standards in place to ensure that volume levels are within OSHA requirements."

OSHA, The Occupational Safety And Health Administration, requires employees to wear hearing protection when they're working for 8 hours around noise 85 decibels or higher. Now that most often includes people working with heavy equipment, construction crews or even airline ground workers.

To protect yourself you can carry soft foam earplugs to use if necessary, move away from the sound source if you can't hear people right next to you speaking in moderately loud voices and limit your time in extremely loud places. Also, be on the lookout for the warning signs of hearing damage, which include ringing in your ears or cloudy, muffled hearing. Good advice to make sure you don't end up getting an earful.

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