According to a the findings of a survey released today, 51 per cent of MP3 users are listening to their players at dangerously high volume levels (above 89 decibels) for up to two hours a day.
A recent European Commission review, which confirmed that listening to personal music players at high volumes over a sustained period of time can lead to permanent hearing damage.
The European Commission said that it could be commonplace in 2020 to see one in 10 30-year-olds wearing a hearing aid as a result of listening to personal music players too loudly.
Hearing Awareness Week is this week, and Hidden Hearing, a hearing healthcare provider, has warned that the MP3 generation may face premature hearing damage.
The survey, conducted on behalf of Hidden Hearing, found that:
· 51 per cent of MP3 users are listening to their MP3 players at dangerously high volume levels (above 89 decibels (db)) for up to two hours a day.
· 1 in 5 people are blasting their ears with sound levels of 100db or more – the equivalent of hearing a pneumatic drill 10 feet away.
· 11 per cent of people listening to MP3 players and 35 per cent of people attending gigs and concerts say they have experienced ringing in their ears or dull hearing signalling that damage to their hearing may have begun.
· 40 per cent of market leading MP3 players tested reach sound levels over 100db – listening at this volume can cause damage to your hearing after just 30 minutes. Some MP3 players reached a maximum volume of 115db which is the equivalent sound level of a jet plane taking off and should not be listened to for more than 30 seconds.
· 24 per cent of people surveyed listen to their MP3 player between 1 and 2 hours a day. One per cent say they listen to their MP3 player for over eight hours a day.
More information can be found at www.hearingawarenessweek.ie.
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