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Updated: May 10, 2026

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
Analysis of sound pressure levels emitted by children's toys
Pricila Sleifer1, Maiara Santos Gonçalves, Marinês Tomasi
1Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. pricilasleifer@uol.com.br
Objective:
To verify the levels of sound pressure emitted by non-certified children's toys.
Methods:
Cross-sectional study of sound toys available at popular retail stores of the so-called informal sector. Electronic, mechanical, and musical toys were analyzed. The measurement of each product was carried out by an acoustic engineer in an acoustically isolated booth, by a decibel meter. To obtain the sound parameters of intensity and frequency, the toys were set to produce sounds at a distance of 10 and 50cm from the researcher's ear. The intensity of sound pressure [dB(A)] and the frequency in hertz (Hz) were measured.
Results:
48 toys were evaluated. The mean sound pressure 10cm from the ear was 102±10 dB(A), and at 50cm, 94±8 dB(A), with p<0.05. The level of sound pressure emitted by the majority of toys was above 85dB(A). The frequency ranged from 413 to 6,635Hz, with 56.3% of toys emitting frequency higher than 2,000Hz.
Conclusions:
The majority of toys assessed in this research emitted a high level of sound pressure.
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