TEL AVIV—Common sense has long told us that playing an iPod or other MP3 player too loud or too long is a likely cause of the rising rate of hearing loss in young people today. But a recent study by researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel uncovered hard evidence that teenagers’ music-listening habits may trigger an epidemic of hearing loss.
Chava Muchnik, lead author of the article “Preferred listening levels of personal listening devices in young teenagers: Self reports and physical measurements,” posted online on November 28, 2011 in the International Journal of Audiology, warned, “In 10 or 20 years it will be too late to realize that an entire generation of young people is suffering from hearing problems much earlier than expected from natural aging.”
Muchnik, a professor in the Department of Communication Disorders at Tel Aviv University, and three of her colleagues conducted a study with 289 participants aged 13 to 17. The teenagers answered questions about their use of personal listening devices (PLDs), including their preferred listening levels and how much they listened.
In addition to collecting self-reports from the subjects, Muchnik et al. measured listening levels of 74 teenagers in quiet and noisy environments. They used these findings to calculate the potential risk to hearing among MP3 users based on the risk criteria laid out by industrial health and safety regulations.
ONE QUARTER AT SEVERE RISK
In an interview with American Friends of Tel Aviv University , Muchnik gave an alarming picture of what she and her colleagues found. Based on the study, she said that 80% of teens use personal listening devices regularly, including 21% who listen to them 1 to 4 hours a day and 8% who listen for more than 4 hours without a break. The findings suggest that a quarter of the participants in the study are at severe risk for hearing loss.
She warned, “Those who are misusing MP3 players today might find that their hearing begins to deteriorate as early as their 30s and 40s, much earlier than past generations.”
PRECAUTIONS RECOMMENDED
In view of the risks demonstrated by the Tel Aviv study, Muchnak urged that measures be taken to prevent this anticipated epidemic of early hearing loss. Specifically, she would like manufacturers to adopt existing European standards that limit the output of PLDs to 100 dB. Some models on the market can produce volumes up to 129 dB.
The professor said that soon researchers will investigate how younger children are using these devices and look for technological solutions to make PLDs safer.
Through an app fuzzily
MEMPHIS, TN–Professors in Tel Aviv aren’t the only people worried about the effects of dangerously loud music on children and teens. So too are the folks at Baptist Memorial Health Care in Memphis, TN. Responding to reports that 6.5 million Americans aged 12 to 19 already have some degree of hearing loss, Baptist Memorial developed the Auto-Old app as part of a campaign to prevent further hearing loss.
While this free app won’t prevent kids from using their iPods unwisely, it may scare them into safe listening habits. What Auto-Old My Music does is let youngsters hear just how muffled their favorite music will sound in the future if they don’t turn down the volume before it’s too late.
Currently, the app is only compatible with Apple products, including the iPod. It’s available free at playitdown.org. Also available there free is The Ear Knob. This app lets listeners compete to see who can detect the highest frequencies. Anyone who cares about winning, will presumably stop listening to over-loud music.
