Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to outline standards for using radios or audiovisual systems in animal rooms.
Background
Exposure to sound louder than 85dB can have both auditory and non-auditory effects on animals, including eosinopenia, increased adrenal weights, and reduced fertility in rodents, as well as increased blood pressure in nonhuman primates.¹‚² Many species can hear frequencies of sound that are inaudible to humans, so the potential effects of sound-producing instruments, such as radios, should be carefully considered.³ When at all possible, activities that might be considered noisy should be conducted in rooms or areas separate from those for animal housing.4
Policy
Unanesthetized, non-aquatic animals should not be exposed to radios, or other sound making devices, unless their use is justified in an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocol or as part of an environmental enrichment program. Specifically, the environmental enrichment program for dogs, pigs, rabbits, ferrets, sheep, and non-human primates (NHP) include the use of music in their housing rooms. Televisions may be used in NHP housing rooms. The level of music or television will be kept below 80dB and staff will be trained that the volume should be set such that people can easily conduct a conversation in the room.
Aquatic animal species such as fish and certain totally aquatic amphibian species (Xenopus sp. and Ambystoma sp.), cannot hear the sound produced by traditional sound producing devices, like radios at 85db, in their aquatic environment. Therefore, the use of sound producing devices is allowed in aquatic animal housing areas provided that reasonable precautions are made to prevent the danger associated with exposure of water to radios plugged into electrical outlets (i.e., use of GFI outlets or placing the radio in an area that minimizes direct water exposure). When at all possible, the use of individual listening devices is recommended.
References
- Turner JG, Parrish JL, Hughes LF, Toth LA, Caspary DM. Hearing in laboratory animals: strain differences and nonauditory effects of noise. Comp Med. 2005 Feb;55(1):12-23. PMID: 15766204; PMCID: PMC3725606.
- Nayfield KC, Besch EL. Comparative responses of rabbits and rats to elevated noise. Lab Anim Sci. 1981 Aug;31(4):386-90. PMID: 7311465.
- Milligan SR, Sales GD, Khirnykh K. Sound levels in rooms housing laboratory animals: an uncontrolled daily variable. Physiol Behav. 1993 Jun;53(6):1067-76. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(93)90361-i. PMID: 8346289.
- Committee for the Update of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, Institute for Laboratory Animal Research, Division on Earth and Life Studies, & National Research Council. (2010). Guide for the care and use of laboratory animals (8th ed.). National Academies Press.
Approval/Review Dates
Originally Approved: 08/18/2005
Last Reviewed/Revised by the IACUC: 05/18/2023