Cicada screams = 106 decibels, Audiologist says similar to lawnmower starting, Aerosmith concert

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The screaming cicadas are here and they're loud!

Debbie Monterrey sat down with Dr. Kate Sinks . She's the director of audiology with the Center for Hearing and Speech .

Dr. Kate Sinks: So I did a little bit of research. The North American cicada has actually been measured at 106 decibels at 20 inches away from the actual insect, which is quite high.

Debbie Monterrey: So that's one cicada.

Dr. Sinks: Yes.

Monterrey: Wow, that's a lot of noise from one insect.

Dr. Sinks: Yes, it is.

Monterrey: It is certainly very important to consider that.

Dr. Sinks: There's a lot of myths out there about these insects and, you know, you step outside and it's instantly going to cause hearing loss.

I want to debunk that one myth while I have this opportunity and just tell people that, yes, these bugs are very, very loud and they can be extremely bothersome.

When federal organizations such as NASHC and OSHA are saying, you know, noise exposure over a certain level is dangerous to your hearing.

Monterrey: They're taking that in terms of very long term perspectives, right?

Dr. Sinks: So they're thinking about being exposed to noise levels over eight hours a day, 40 hours a week, 32 years of working.

Monterrey: Ok.

Dr. Sinks: And so we really have to take in consideration not only the duration of the exposure, the period of the duration of the sound, the period of the exposure, but also the distance.

And so people have different sensitivity levels if you feel more comfortable walking outside this summer with a pair of ear plugs in at the height of the our cicada invasion by all means, do so to make yourself more comfortable, but they are not going to instantly cause hearing loss.

Monterrey: All right, or put the earplugs in to keep them from flying in your ears.

They're kind of creepy.

Dr. Sinks: They are kind of creepy but they do not bite is what I've learned.

Monterrey: Yeah, they just kind of hang out.  I think it's the red eyes that do it for me.

But what you said the decibel level was 106 according to some of the research I read, where does that compare on a scale?  You know, like what, what do, what would car traffic be compared to that as on the decibel level scale?

Dr. Sinks: And so a close analogy could be the starting up of a lawn mower. That kind of initial sound coming out of a lawn where it could be approximately 100 decibels.

Monterrey: Ok.

Dr. Sinks: So could Aerosmith at the front row.

Monterrey: So if you're outside and it's not just one cicada because it's never just one, it's thousands of them, maybe more.

Dr. Sinks: So it does get really loud.

Monterrey: But what you're telling us is unless you're planning to hang out with the Cicadas for the next 32 years and just listen to that, we should all be ok.

Dr. Sinks: You should all be just fine, but it may be annoying, especially, especially to those who are sensitive to noises.