My boss is convinced that working in an office environment is detrimental to our hearing. The culprit? White noise. Her theory is that we become desensitized to noises around us to the point that we are less aware of important sounds, like that car you did not see or hear as you stepped off the curb.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute published a study in 2003, White Noise Delays Auditory Organization in the Brain, that focused on the effects of constant white noise on auditory development in children. I tried to find specific research on adults, but have come up short. Still, one would think that it cannot be all good for you.

Most people in our office do not notice the white noise until it is turned off (at which point it feels kind of eerily quiet). However, right now it is set so loud that it is all I can hear. Frankly it is driving me crazy. I need a pair of these headphones.