MP3 generation risk hearing loss

Young people who to listen to MP3 players at high volume every day could be at risk of future damage to their hearing, an expert has warned.

Many personal music players now generate sound levels at the ear in excess of 120 decibels, similar in intensity to a jet engine, says Professor Peter Rabinowitz from Yale University School of Medicine, especially when used with earphones.

Surveys carried out in Europe and the United States have shown that more than 90 per cent of young people now own personal music players.

Writing in to-day's British Medical Journal, Professor Rabinowitz says that the use of personal music players “has grown faster than our ability to assess their potential health consequences.”

So far, the evidence that music players can cause hearing loss in young people is mixed, but the professor says this suggests the true effects are only now starting to show.

Personal music players also may affect other aspects of health, he warned, as some show that also interfere with concentration and performance when driving, in a similar way to mobile phones.

At the present time, Professor Rabinowicz advises everyone to be more aware of the potential of personal music players to cause future hearing loss, and avoid excessive levels of sound.

He also suggests it would be prudent to remove earphones while driving and performing other safety sensitive tasks, and calls for more comprehensive and ongoing surveys of the hearing health of young people.

“Personal music players provide a reminder that our hunger for new technology should be accompanied by equally vigorous efforts to understand and manage the health consequences of changing lifestyles,” he concluded.

More information

Spotlight on tinnitus

This article was published on Wed 21 April 2010