I had a shopping cart full of toys. The cashier commented about the lucky little ones at my house. Then she started bagging those toys. Every time she touched one, it would shriek, beep or blare with noise. Those toys were not headed for my children's playroom, thankfully, but a soundproof chamber at the University of Minnesota.

Every year, the Sight & Hearing Association and researchers from the University of Minnesota test toys - taken right off retailers' shelves - for potentially dangerous sound levels. This year, 12 of the 15 toys tested for Sight & Hearing Association's 2006 Noisy Toys List sounded off louder than 100 decibels (dB) directly at the speaker of the toy. And 11 of the 15 are meant for children three years or younger.

View Noisy Toy List

This year's noisiest toys couldn't be more opposite: guns and books. The top offender on this year's list is the Power Gear Neo Fazer, a toy gun that blasted at 116 dB - loud enough to risk hearing damage in less than 30 seconds. Three books meant for 18-month-olds - "The Wiggles Wiggly Jukebox," "The Wiggles Wiggly Songs" and "Help Along Sing a Song" - measured at 114 dB, 113 dB and 112 dB, respectively. All of those books are loud enough to risk hearing damage in less than one minute.

Unfortunately, they're also relatively easy to find. Julee Sylvester, spokesperson for the Sight & Hearing Association, estimates 80 percent of all toys make some kind of sound. "In the store, the toys practically shout at you to try them," she said. "So test them, right in the store. Listen to them before you buy."

Noise Themometer

Click on Noise Thermometer to enlarge

Sounds that are 85 dB or louder can permanently damage your ears. The louder the sound, the less time it takes to cause damage. For example, a sound at 85 dB may take as long as eight hours to cause permanent damage, while a sound at 100 dB can start damaging hair cells after only 30 minutes of listening. According to guidelines by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a federal agency part of the Centers for Disease Control, the permissible exposure time (the amount of time you should listen) is cut in half with every 3 decibels over 85 dB.

Because of a child's shorter arm span, toys are often potentially more dangerous to hearing because children hold them closer to their ears. In the Sight & Hearing Association study, the toys were repeatedly tested at distances simulating how a child might hold the toy, directly near the ear (0 inches) and at arm's length (10 inches). A soundproof acoustic chamber was used to ensure accurate measurements.

Until 2004, there were no regulations in the United States regarding the loudness of toys. An acoustics standard (ASTM F963), adopted and revised in March 2004 by ASTM International, states that a hand-held, table-top or crib toy cannot exceed 90 dB 25 cm (approx. 10 in.) from the surface of the toy. Manufacturers are not required to comply with the standard.

Directly at the speaker of the toy, all of the toys tested this year measured louder than 90 dB. At 10 inches from the toy's surface, four of the toys measured louder than 90 dB: the Rock Star Classic Electronic Guitar (97 dB), The Home Depot Light & Sound Wrench (94 dB), the Power Gear Neo Fazer (91 dB), and the Power Gear Max Sound Fazer (90 dB).

Seth Janus, M.D., an otolaryngologist at the University of Minnesota, tested the toys. "I was very surprised how loud the toys were up close," he said, "but they dropped down to reasonable levels when testing at 10 inches."

Whenever possible, he says, a parent should try to make sure their child does not hold a toy up to their ears.

Of course, we all know that children's play is not predictable; meaning how we think a child will play with a toy is not always the case.

While the United States has one of the highest regulated toy industries, the acoustics of toys continues to be a concern to organizations like the Sight & Hearing Association. In the Toy Industry Association's statement regarding the sound level of toys, it writes, "What makes people call a toy 'too noisy' is a matter of opinion and personal preference - just as some people prefer soft, classical music to loud rock music."

Sylvester disagrees. "100 decibels is 100 decibels, whether it's Mozart, Metallica - or Mattel."

Unlike choking hazards and other injuries, there are no injury statistics on toys and hearing loss. That's because noise-induced hearing loss is nearly impossible to track its origination.

"Noise-induced hearing loss is cumulative," explains Sylvester. "It doesn't typically happen from one event; it gradually happens over time. That's why it's important to start protecting hearing at a young age."

To protect your children, the Sight & Hearing Association offers the following tips:

• Listen to a toy before you buy it. If it sounds loud to you, it's too loud for your child.
• Report a loud toy. Call the Consumer Product Safety Commission at 800-638-2772.
• Put masking or packing tape over the speaker on the toy. This will help reduce the volume.

That was the case for brothers Nolan and Colin Nielson. Both boys attended Step by Step Montessori in Brooklyn Park and were screened by the Sight & Hearing Association.

Two years in a row, Nolan didn't pass his hearing screening. The first year, parents Scott and Shelly took him to a pediatrician, who discounted the screening and said he was fine. A year later, after he didn't pass the screening a second time, they decided to take him to a specialist at Fairview in Minneapolis. Sure enough, Nolan wasn't hearing well and needed tubes to drain the fluid in his ears.

"Had it gone untreated, it could have resulted in nerve damage," said Shelly.

Fortunately, the situation was rectified before he started kindergarten, and now two years later, he's on his second set of tubes.

"Nolan would ask 'what' all the time," said Scott, Nolan's dad. "We didn't know if he was just talking back. He didn't have a lot of ear infections. But we noticed he liked the sound of things turned up. [After surgery,] his hearing definitely improved."

So his parents again took the results seriously when son Colin, on the verge of being a kindergartner himself this fall, didn't pass his vision screening in May. They immediately set up an appointment to see a pediatric ophthalmologist.

Referred for constant deviation, Colin has a mild case of Brown's syndrome, an eye muscle problem in which an eye fails to elevate upon turning inward. The condition is usually congenital and does not do well with surgery or treatment. It is usually best left alone.

Screenings, like those provided by the Sight & Hearing Association, are critical to finding undetected problems. The Nielsons are proof of that.