Take a walk on any street anywhere in the world and chances are that you’ll notice most of the teenagers listening to their MP3 players with the ear plugs on. Now researchers from the Tel Aviv University have confirmed what most of the doctors always feared. They have come to the conclusion that these MP3 players are a serious health hazard which will lead to an entire generation with hearing loss problems much before the expected age.
The researchers, led by Prof. Chava Muchnik from the Department of Communication Disorders, at the Tel Aviv University, have found that one among every four teenagers, listening to their MP3 player at a high volume, is at an increased risk of developing early hearing loss. Prof. Muchnik, along with her colleagues studied about the teenagers’ preferred mode of listening to music as well as the volume at which they like their music to be played.
The study, which has been published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Audiology, was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the researchers interviewed 289 individuals, between the ages of 13 and 17, about the volume at which they listened to the music on MP3 players and for how long. In the second phase, the researchers interviewed 74 teenagers and measured the levels at which they listened to their music in quiet and noisy surroundings. The researchers used the risk criteria laid out by the industrial health and safety regulations to calculate the risk of hearing loss among the teenagers.
It was seen that around 80% of all teenagers listened to their MP3 players regularly with almost 21% of them listening to it for one to four hours every day. 8% of the teenagers were found to be using their personal listening devices for more than four hours. On analyzing the complete data, the researchers realized that more than a quarter of these teenagers were at an increased risk of developing early hearing loss.
Worried by these results, the researchers have recommended that the manufacturers of MP3 players should limit the maximum decibel level to 100 decibels. The teenagers should be taught about the harm of listening to music at a high volume and should be encouraged to use over the ear headphones instead of ear plugs.
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