Will humans and animals be harmed by frequencies outside their hearing range? ?

Question

The human ear (for example) is sensitive to frequencies from 20Hz to 20kHz. Any sound beyond that limit would not be heard by us naturally. 1. Will it harm us (effect our ability to hear) when we hear sound more than 20kHz continuously? Or... 2. Will it harm when we hear a 19,999Hz sound (which is upper limit) continuously?

Answer 1

Yes. Frequencies that you can not hear can still damage your ear. The reason is that the ear is a complex system that compromises of the smallest bones in the body to vibrate hair cells. As you would imagine, this system is very delicate. Frequencies outside the 20 kHZ will cause damage up to and including hearing loss.