Smokers are 15.1% more likely to develop hearing loss compared with non-smokers and passive smokers (those regularly exposed to second-hand smoke). Moreover, passive smokers were found to be 28% more likely to develop hearing loss than non-smokers. Lead researcher Dr. Piers Dawes adds, “We are not sure if toxins in tobacco smoke affect hearing directly, or whether smoking-related cardiovascular disease causes microvascular changes that impact on hearing, or both.”
Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, May 2014