There is no single safe volume, because hearing damage is level multiplied by time.
The international reference is WHO-ITU H.870, published in 2019. For adults it sets the weekly allowance at 80 dB(A) across 40 hours.
Read that as a budget rather than a ceiling. Spend it faster and there is less week left.
Every 3 decibels doubles the energy, so every 3 decibels halves the time
The decibel scale is logarithmic. A rise of 3 dB is twice the sound energy arriving at the eardrum.
The exposure rule follows from that directly, with no judgement involved.
| Listening level | Weekly allowance |
|---|---|
| 80 dB(A) | 40 hours |
| 83 dB(A) | 20 hours |
| 86 dB(A) | 10 hours |
| 89 dB(A) | 5 hours |
| 92 dB(A) | 2 hours 30 |
| 95 dB(A) | 1 hour 15 |
Look at the bottom row for a moment.
At 95 dB the whole week is spent before Friday's journey home, on a commute of under 40 minutes each way.
The number that matters is the one at the eardrum, not the one on the slider
A volume slider is not a meter. The same 70% setting produces different levels on different headphones.
Sensitivity varies between models, and two pairs driven identically can differ by 10 dB or more.
That is why the European standard EN 50332, retained in UK law, makes a phone ask you to confirm before passing a marked point on the scale.
The point sits near 85 dB(A), and dismissing the prompt every morning is a decision rather than an accident.
Both iOS and Android now log average headphone exposure in their health screens. That readout is a far better guide than the slider position.
Background noise is what pushes the slider up
A Tube carriage in motion sits somewhere between 80 and 90 dB(A), and deep tunnel sections run higher still.
To pick out detail over that, most people set music roughly 10 dB above the background without thinking about it.
Which puts an ordinary commute past 90 dB, with nobody having decided anything.
Cancellation attacks the cause rather than the symptom. Remove 20 dB of low rumble and the same detail is audible 20 dB quieter.
Noise cancellation is a hearing-protection feature that happens to be sold as a comfort feature.
Passive isolation does some of this too. A closed-back over-ear cup blocks perhaps 10 to 15 dB before any electronics are switched on.
Open-back headphones and loose-fitting earbuds do the opposite, which is why open designs belong in quiet rooms.
The UK's own noise figures come from the workplace
Under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, an employer must act once daily exposure reaches 80 dB(A).
At 85 dB(A) hearing protection must be provided and used, and 87 dB(A) is the absolute exposure limit.
See the HSE noise exposure rulesHealth and Safety Executive โ
Those thresholds exist because the evidence on cumulative noise damage is old and settled.
None of it changes when the source is music you chose rather than machinery you did not.
Noise-induced hearing loss is gradual, painless and permanent. What goes first is usually consonants in conversation, not volume.
In general, ringing after a listening session means the dose was too high, whatever the slider said at the time.
If you want the quiet without the volume, the shortlist is in Best noise cancelling headphones in 2026: 3 picks and who each one is for.
This is general information rather than medical advice. Persistent ringing or muffled hearing is worth a GP appointment.
