New study on earbud hearing-loss risk

Further evidence this week that earbud users who like the volume turned up high are seriously at risk of hurting their ears. Parents, get your kids to listen to this as well as music! A European study found that people who listened to music on MP3 players "for five hours a week at high-volume settings exposed themselves to more noise than permitted in the noisiest factory or work place," the New York Times reports. The study - by a team of nine specialists on the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks - "threatens permanent hearing loss for as many as 10 million Europeans." The Times adds that in the EU's 27 countries "an estimated 50 million to 100 million people out of about 500 million may be listening to portable music players daily." I'm sure the percentage isn't much higher than that in the United States. The study "also warns that young people do not realize the damage until years later." The maximum safe decibel level is 89, which - on iPods - is about the 60% volume level (see "iPods & ears" and "New earbud risk study"). The iPod manual includes a warning about hearing-loss risk.

Kids need to listen to *this*

Rapper Ben Johnson has joined a team of hearing loss specialists who talk to young music fans with earbuds about ear damage. He’s a very cool-looking 20-something musician who’s very effective at driving home the point that people need to be really careful about earbud volume levels and music listening time, reports National Public Radio. He does this for a very personal reason and because of some numbers. First, “his father Isaiah, who is looking on from the back of the cafeteria [of the middle school where the team is conducting a special assembly], is a classical musician - a conductor - who lost much of his hearing a few years ago.” Second, according to a Centers for Disease Control study NPR cites, nearly 13% of Americans ages 6-19 (more than 5 million) have suffered noise-induced hearing loss. Earbuds can cause that if they’re used for long periods (at 7+ volume on a scale of 10). The rule of thumb these experts give is to “limit earphone listening to an hour a day, at a setting no greater than six” on that scale of 10.” If other people can hear the music “leaking” from their phones, it’s too loud. If they hear ringing in their ears when they take the earbuds out, that’s “a sign of imminent ear damage.” If your children want to know why earbuds can be damaging and they don’t want to read the NPR piece, tell them it’s because they’re actually in the ear canal, very close to the “cochlea, the inner ear chamber where hearing happens.” See also this item about Apple’s free software for protecting iPod users’ ears and this about teens and hearing loss from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.