Confirmed: Vuvuzelas are hazardous to one's hearing

Researchers from the University of Pretoria in South Africa recently measured the sound emitted from the plastic horn to be 131 decibels at its opening.

Sounds that intense, according to the researchers, put people at risk for noise-induced hearing loss…

That noise measurement is what’s produced from one blow of one horn. Considering that a soccer match lasts at least 90 minutes and there are typically many, many vuvuzelas sounding off at once, the risk for developing hearing loss is greater.