[Toy cap pistols and their effect on hearing]

In order to understand the repeated occurrences of auditory impairments caused by toy pistols, an analysis of the circumstances involved was performed at Justus-Liebig University of Giessen. The acoustic impact of toy pistols on the ear was determined with a special measuring system for impulse noise. Results were compared with the acoustic impacts of the G3 common rifle of the German military on the ear of the soldier. It was apparent that all of the five randomly selected types of toy pistols were much louder than the military rifle, if fired close to the ear. The current standard of the European Union related to the safety of toys (EN 71-1) tolerates peaks of impulse noise from toy pistols that are actually illegal for workplaces without auditory protection. Measurements showed that the toy pistols tested were even louder than that tolerated by the EU standard. Problems related to acute acoustic trauma caused by these toys are discussed using recent examples. In order to prevent such injuries, we suggest limiting the loudness of the "worst case" instead of using unrealistic measurements.