A new EU study has found that listening to personal music players at a high volume, over a long period, can permanently damage hearing.
The research was conducted by the EU Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) and found that up to 10% of listeners risk permanent damage if they listen to a personal music player for more than an hour a day over successive weeks at high volume.
Scientists from the independent committee confirm that there is real cause for concern.
The European Commission will now examine with member states and stakeholders, measures to protect children and adolescents from exposure to noise from personal music players.
EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said: ‘I am concerned that so many young people, in particular, who are frequent users of personal music players and mobile phones at high acoustic levels, may be unknowingly damaging their hearing irrevocably.
‘The scientific findings indicate a clear risk and we need to react rapidly.
‘Most importantly we need to raise consumer awareness and put this information in the public domain.
‘We need also to look again at the controls in place, in the light of this scientific advice, to make sure they are fully effective and keep pace with new technology,’ she added.
An EU safety standard already exists restricting the noise level of personal music players to 100 decibels, but there is new concern over hearing damage from excessive exposure.
The SCENIHR opinion highlights how users of personal music players who listen to over five hours of music a week at high volume would exceed the current limits in place for noise allowed in the workplace.
Listening for longer periods over five years can risk permanent hearing loss. This represents between 5% and 10% of the listeners in the EU.
