New York subway platform noise routinely exceeds safety thresholds within half an hour

Evidence

But a 2006 Columbia University study measured sound generated by New York subway trains and found that the average maximum noise on subway platforms stood at 94 decibels (the decibel, or dB, being the preferred unit of noise measurement), with peaks of over 100. This is well over the volume of a fully revved-up chain saw held at arm’s length. Moreover, the CU study found, merely spending a half hour in the subway system, exposed to the average noise level of trains, would exceed safety guidelines recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization, potentially resulting in damage to one’s hearing. — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 39

Categorization

• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 39
• XREF: connects to: Ordinary subway trains produce sound intense enough to distress people physically — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 30; Chronic toxic noise exposure is a widespread, unrecognized pandemic in developed nations — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 43; Sounds above 100 dBA are tolerable for under half an hour — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 675