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A couple of weeks ago, Richard Whiteford and his wife went to their local movie theater near West Chester, Pennsylvania, to see “The Odyssey,” one of the most anticipated films of the year.

It tells the story of Greek hero Odysseus’ journey home after the Trojan War, and all of the mythical creatures and perilous obstacles he encounters along the way.

But Whiteford, 79, said that he and his wife struggled to enjoy the movie because the volume in the theater “was just so insanely loud.”

Whiteford had previously been concerned about noise levels in movie theaters, and had installed a decibel meter app on his phone.

“According to my decibel meter, we were subjected to 110.2 dBs for several minutes many times during the action episodes,” he wrote in an email, along with screenshots of the app’s readings.

That’s a range that could potentially lead to hearing damage in some people.

A few weeks later, when he took his grandson to see the new Spider-Man movie, they could hear “thundering” sounds from “The Odyssey” playing next door.

He began to wonder: Have movie theaters become significantly louder? And what’s the impact of that noise exposure? He already has some hearing injury after working in the music industry for over 20 years.

“Now that I’m facing hearing loss myself, it’s more of a prominent issue for me,” Whiteford said.

There’s no clear answer on whether movie theaters have definitively become louder, but film run times are, on average, longer today than they were in the past. Viewers are often sitting through varying degrees of soft dialogue and explosive noises for more than two hours.

Movie theater volume is generally safe in most cases, said audiologist Frank Wartinger, an adjunct professor in Drexel University’s Osborne Audiology Department. He specializes in helping musicians, performers and others in the music industry protect their hearing and manage hearing loss.

But concerns about excessive sound and possible noise-induced hearing loss should always be taken seriously, he said.

“If you consistently listen at a level that is harmful and dangerous, that does catch up,” Wartinger said. “It’s one of the most common public health concerns, and it’s one of the only public health concerns we have right now that is a hundred percent preventable.”

Safe and dangerous decibel levels at the movies

The intensity and loudness of sound is measured in decibels, with very low numbers either inconsequential or safe, and very high numbers indicating potential for harm.

Wartinger likes to compare this range to how we look at temperature, measured in degrees Fahrenheit.

“Sounds that are up around what we call conversational level, like the level that you would put your radio or your TV if you were to choose the level for those, are usually in the 60 to 70 decibel range,” he said. “That’s also room temperature, isn’t it? That’s what we set our houses to or our cars to if we have a choice.”

At around 80 to 90 decibels, the sound might resemble a crowded bar, a hair dryer or street traffic — uncomfortable, but manageable.

“And then there’s a certain point where things go from uncomfortable to potentially dangerous or harmful for our health,” he said. “When we get above 95 to 100 degrees, it’s still healthy to be outside briefly, but longer duration exposures to those temperatures can harm our health over time.”