Earphone volume and the weekly dose
The same volume adds up differently depending on how long you listen. Enter the listening level in dBA, the hours you listen each day and the days per week, and the page returns the weekly dose in Pa²h, the share of the reference allowance it uses, and how many listening hours are left at that level. The formula it applied is printed alongside.
The reference is the World Health Organization and International Telecommunication Union safe listening standard, ITU-T H.870 (as of October 2026). The recommended recreational limit is below 80 dB for up to 40 hours a week, and that pairing is the adult reference allowance of 1.6 Pa²h. For children and sensitive users the reference dose is 0.51 Pa²h per seven days. Dose is computed as 4 × 10⁻¹⁰ × 10^(level ÷ 10) × hours.
A decibel ceiling for children is not confirmed in an authoritative source and is therefore not used. This page covers recreational listening only; workplace noise falls under a separate scheme with a different exchange rate and is not computed here. Staying inside the allowance is not a guarantee that hearing is protected, and people differ. Ringing in the ears, muffled sound or trouble hearing are reasons to see an ear, nose and throat clinician. This result is not a medical diagnosis.
Frequently asked questions
It comes from the World Health Organization and International Telecommunication Union safe listening standard. The recommended recreational limit is below 80 dB for up to 40 hours a week, and putting 80 dBA with 40 hours into the dose formula gives 1.6 Pa²h.
This page does not use one. A decibel figure for children is not confirmed in an authoritative source. Instead it treats the reference dose for children and sensitive users, 0.51 Pa²h per seven days, as the allowance and reports the share used.
In the dose formula, every 10 dB increase multiplies the hourly dose by ten. Three decibels is close to a factor of two, so dropping the level by 3 dB roughly doubles the hours that fit inside the same dose.