57% of French people are unaware or mistaken about the decibel limits not to be exceeded to preserve their hearing. Demonstrating a lack of knowledge among the population about hearing health. This is what the survey found “The French and Noise” conducted by OpinionWay, for the Association “ Sound Week"However, the decibel levels not to be exceeded, to protect one's health, are between 40 and 60, or roughly the same noise levels as a quiet office or a lively market, according to the noise observatory in Île-de-France. NoiseParif.
Indeed, still according to the OpinionWay survey, 72% of French people feel stressed by noise. During a press conference on January 22, 2025, Eléonore Quarré, head of OpinionWay's Society studies, explains that “Noise is a major source of stress”. However, for Professor Paul Avan, director of the Center for Research and Innovation in Human Audiology (CERIAH), “There is ambiguity between dangerous sounds and harmful sounds.”
For example, for 47% of French people, someone else's phone conversation in public space is considered harmful. However, “Just because noise is annoying doesn’t mean it’s necessarily dangerous.”, notes the professor. Construction site noise, sounds emitted by two-wheelers and more generally traffic noise can constitute noise nuisances, without however causing danger if they are not prolonged. Thus, he adds that “Noise, even at a very low level, can cause difficulty or stress in carrying out a task and become dangerous for the ears if exposed to it for too long.”
© Damien Hypolite / Sciences et Avenir
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Only 25% of French people consider their hearing to be good
In addition, the survey reveals that 49% of French people suffer from hearing loss linked to exposure to noise and 44% from tinnitus. However, few of them “know the real dangers of noise and its limits”, deplores Eléonore Quarré. Thus, only 54% of French people say they feel well informed about hearing health and only 25% believe they have good hearing.
What is tinnitus?
According to theHealth Insurance, tinnitus is a noise, whistling, buzzing, crackling… that is heard in one or both ears without it having been emitted by an external source. In France, approximately 23 million people have or have experienced tinnitus, according to a survey Ifop from 2024.
Yet, “Hearing loss occurs much more often before we realize it.”, believes Professor Christine Petit, head of the laboratory of Innovations in Hearing Therapy at the Pasteur Institute. Indeed, according to her, the hearing threshold (i.e. the intensity below which noises are inaudible and allow us to become aware of the sound levels around us) “can remain unchanged for a long time while the cochlea (part of the inner ear providing hearing, Editor's note), already begins to decline in hearing”. So our hearing can start to decline without us realizing it, because the process begins inside the ear.
Finally, for Professor Christine Petit, "The occurrence of hearing loss between the ages of 40 and 50 is an indicator of future degenerative diseases". Indeed, even if for the moment the link between hearing loss and degenerative diseases, in particular Parkinson's disease, remain unclear, it is according to her interesting to look into “what happens in terms of degeneration between the port of hearing aids or not, on the evolution of these diseases”.
Read also: Six out of 10 employees bothered by noise: hearing health at work week
New tools to familiarize people with the dangers of noise
Finally, despite the risks associated with hearing loss and the inconveniences caused by noise, the French remain poorly informed. This is why the Association "La Semaine du Son" is behind the initiative to design a “decibelator”. A small billboard on the fronts of hearing aid stores or town halls, it should be used to display the decibel level of the street, like pharmacies displaying the temperature. According to Christian Hugonnet, founding president of the Association "La Semaine du Son", “the decibel meter would serve as a sound level indicator, to better inform and familiarize with the notion of decibel”.
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