P.E.I.'s top public health doctor sounds the alarm on air horns in hockey arenas

P.E.I.'s Chief Public Health Officer is raising concerns about the use of compressed air horns in ice arenas.  

After her office received a written submission about the issue, Dr. Heather Morrison sent a letter to Hockey P.E.I. in December that described the health risks associated with the use of such noisemakers. 

"Compressed air horns may produce a sound at 100 dB or higher," the letter reads. "When an individual is exposed to long, repeated or close-proximity exposure to decibels higher than 70 dB, it can cause hearing loss." 

Audiologists like Krista Campbell aren't surprised about the concerns. 

"It's actually a fairly common comment that I hear as an audiologist in terms of some of the sounds that are in our day-to-day lives," Campbell said. "It certainly comes up about the noise levels at sporting events."

In physics, sound is just concentrated waves of air pressure, she said. "What happens with something like an air horn is the pressure is very high, so the sound level is very high and that hits the eardrum at a harder level.

"If someone is visiting an arena quite frequently where these air horns are being used, that could cause some long-term damage."

She said she's happy the issue is getting some attention. 

"We want people to have fun and go and cheer for their team and whatnot, but there is a risk," she said. "The more we're in sporting events or the longer we're going to be there, the more important it is for us to take some steps to minimize… the risk."

These days, air horns are banned at two of the Island's biggest arenas: the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown and Credit Union Place in Summerside. 

Air horns have been banned at the latter arena since 2023. 

"It is something that's banned currently from our recreational venue, that we don't welcome inside of our venue," said Tanner Doiron, event and communications manager for the City of Summerside. 

He characterized the move as "trying to just foster a more safe, welcoming, inclusive environment for all our event-goers and fans alike." 

Many venues across North America ban the use of air horns, so the City of Summerside saw this update to its code of conduct as an "easy fix," Doiron said.