Big bang theory: Edmonton researchers warn popping balloons as loud as gun blasts
EDMONTON — Bill Hodgetts doesn’t want to be a party-pooper.
The Edmonton audiologist and father of two young girls says he often wondered if there was something more dangerous than disdainful about noisy children’s birthday parties, so he went to his lab and started bursting balloons.
What he discovered was surprising, he says.
Popping a balloon next to someone’s ear is as loud as firing a high-powered shotgun.