WHY: 12.5% of youth aged 6 to 19 years have hearing loss related to hazardous sound exposure.

WHAT: Kids and families alike will gather at Tartan Park on Wednesday, October 16, for Dangerous Decibel’s "How Loud is Your Music? Jolene Family Reunion and U-Build-It Jolene workshop.” This free, public event features 20 teams from Minnesota and across the U.S. who will build mannequins that measure music-player sound levels. Parents and children can see teams create the mannequins, have their music players tested, and learn more about earphones/headphones and how loud music affects the ear.

The “How Loud is Your Music” event is part of a weeklong series of events hosted by 3M and Dangerous Decibels. The other events include an International conference at 3M called “Innovations in Noise-Induced Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Prevention in Kids” and a hands-on educator workshop.

WHO: Attendees of all ages are encouraged to bring their iPods, MP3 players and other personal music players. The events are designed for, but not limited to, parents, students, teachers, physicians, public health experts, clinical and educational audiologists, speech-language pathologists, music educators, museum educators, industrial and military representatives, hearing conservationists, industrial hygienists, school nurses and hearing loss prevention advocates.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Stop in anytime between 6:30 and 9:30 p.m.
For a more detailed schedule of events, please visit www.dangerousdecibels.org

WHERE: Tartan Park, 11455 20th Street North,  Lake Elmo, MN 55042

About Dangerous Decibels

The Dangerous Decibels project is a public health campaign designed to reduce the incidence and prevalence of Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) and tinnitus (ringing in the ear) by changing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of school-aged children.

The project is built upon an innovative collaboration between basic science researchers, clinicians, museum educators, health communication experts, civic leaders, teachers, public health professionals, and volunteers in a unique public/private partnership. Current partners are the Oregon Hearing Research Center at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Portland State University (Department of Health Communications), and University of Northern Colorado.

ABOUT 3M

3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $30 billion in sales, 3M employs 88,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.

3M offers a comprehensive, diverse portfolio of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) solutions including audio-limiting headphones that keep the sound level at or below 82 dBA. 3M recently launched a hearing conservation mobile app, which includes a sound level meter. This app will allow people to see when noise levels exceed 85 decibels - Download for IOS  Download for Android3M also recently kicked off a program called the “Hearing Pledge” to encourage people to wear hearing protection when exposed to loud noises (www.hearingpledge.com).