THE rumble of a passing bus, the blast of a car horn or police siren, the yell of an Evening Times vendor - they are all familiar sounds in Glasgow.

But noise levels in the city could be damaging your health. According to one hearing expert, prolonged exposure to city life could leave your ears ringing.

And too much exposure could permanently damage your hearing. Given that anything over 85 decibels could be harmful - the noise a hairdryer makes- we took to the streets to record just how loud the city is.

The busy M8 motorway, which cuts through Charing Cross, sees thousands of vehicles roar past every day. During our visit, we recorded an ear-splitting 92 decibels.

Reader Poll As we tour some of Glasgow’s worst hotspots for noise, does more need to be done to curb this type of pollution? Yes 62.4% No 35.3% Don't know 2.4%

Similar levels were recorded at the building site at the St Enoch Shopping Centre (87.6db) and a pneumatic drill on Buchanan Street (90.7db). Evening Times vendor Matt Campbell was a respectable 84.4db.

But top of the noise level chart was public transport.

A quick trip on the underground recorded a deafening 99db, while the squeaky brakes of a city centre bus topped 97.4db.

Greg Clements, practice director and hearing aid audiologist at the Hearing Company, believes many of us are oblivious to the harm everyday events can cause to our hearing.

84.4 decibels: Vendor Matt Campbell's yell was under the safe limit of 85 decibels	99 decibels: A trip on the Glasgow underground could leave your ears ringing	97.4 decibels: The screech of a bus's brakes hit the high end of our noise scale	Greg Clements tests Barry's hearing after a noisy day

From walking beside a busy road to attending a football match, there are potential dangers everywhere.

Greg said: "It's everyday things that people don't realise. For example, a normal conversation is around 60 decibels but prolonged exposure to anything over 85db is potentially damaging."

And top of the list of potential dangers, says Greg, are motorbikes and personal MP3 players.

He said: "The things that people are most exposed to are motorbikes, which often exceed 100 decibels.

"MP3 players average 115 decibels, so if you're constantly listening to an iPod or similar, you could be potentially damaging your hearing."

The damage, however, would not be apparent overnight.

"It would take years to manifest itself. If you're exposing yourself to these kind of noise levels at 18 years old you're not going to notice anything until your mid 40s or 50s," says Greg.

"If, between the ages of 20 and 50, you expose yourself to a lot of social noise through music etcetera and you don't protect your ears, there's more of a chance of it being a handicap before you reach 70.

"It might be that at 55 you're not hearing as well as you used to.

"The signs of people needing assistance with their hearing is not being able to follow conversation in groups, having to turn the television up louder and asking people to repeat themselves."

While you'd expect things like attending a rock concert every night or working in a factory to be damaging to your hearing, it's the everyday hazards that cause a real problem, says Greg.

It can be anything from a noisy pub, mowing the lawn, drying your hair or playing music.

"I'm not suggesting you need to walk around with ear protectors but if you use an electric lawnmower or power tools regularly you should protect your ears," advises Greg.

But football fans worried about the roar of the crowd needn't worry.

"A football match may be 123 decibels," says Greg, "but for that to be damaging you'd have to go to two or three football matches a day, every day."