MP3 hearing impairment


13-11-08

Young people unaware that they are damaging their own hearing. Many young people are unaware that loud music can damage their hearing for life. A whole generation is risking hearing damage at a much too young age. As many as two in three youngsters listen to music on their MP3 players at dangerously high volume. 110 randomly selected Englishmen, aged between 18 and 33 years, were approached in the streets of Brighton, Manchester and Birmingham, and asked for permission by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, RNID, to record the noise levels of the music in their MP3 players.

72 were found to have turned the volume so high that the noise level exceeded 85 dB. At this level you may suffer permanent hearing loss if you keep your ear pods in your ears for more than an hour a day.

"It's easy to crank up the sound levels on your MP3 player to damagingly loud levels, especially on busy streets or public transport. But if people can hear the music from your headphones from just one meter away, you're putting your hearing at risk" said Brian Lamb, Acting Chief Executive of RNID.

Manufacturers share responsibility

An earlier RNID study found that 58 percent of young people were unaware of any risk to their hearing from using MP3 players. "MP3 player manufacturers have a responsibility to make their customers aware of the dangers by printing clear warnings on packaging and linking volume controls to decibel levels" said Brian Lamb. The ignorance of the youngsters combined with more than 8 million MP3 players sold in 2006 alone in the UK add up to a significant increase in the number of young people with hearing problems.

Hear-it 2008