Award Winning Earplugs

Etymotic's BlastPLG earplugs has won an Innovation award which will be presented at at the upcoming 2011 Consumer Electronics Show taking place this January in Las Vegas. The electronically enhanced earplugs run about $450 each and are designed to safeguard military personnel from long-term hearing damage. It will blocks certain frequencies when explosives or other loud noises take place but allow sounds at other frequencies to reach the inner ear. For more information, check here.

What Earplugs Can Do

Earplugs reduce outside sounds by about 20 to 30 decibels for someone with normal hearing. Ordinary cotton balls or wads of tissue paper stuffed into ears cut noise only by about seven decibels. Normal conversation runs about 60 decibels. Continual exposure to more than 85 decibels may cause hearing loss. Earplugs can be premolded for the user and most are sized for men.

What Earplugs Can Do

Earplugs reduce outside sounds by about 20 to 30 decibels for someone with normal hearing. Ordinary cotton balls or wads of tissue paper stuffed into ears cut noise only by about seven decibels. Normal conversation runs about 60 decibels. Continual exposure to more than 85 decibels may cause hearing loss. Earplugs can be premolded for the user and most are sized for men.