Report: MP3 players threaten users' hearing
People who listen to MP3 players for only five hours a week at a high volume may be doing permanent damage to their hearing.
A team of nine experts on the European Union's Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks is expected to release that finding in a study Monday, according to a report in the International Herald Tribune.
The EU entity also points out that young people may be doing damage to their hearing that may not surface until years after the exposure, according to the newspaper.
"Regularly listening to personal music players at high-volume settings when young often has no immediate effect on hearing but is likely to result in hearing loss later in life," the newspaper quoted the report as stating.
"Some authors stress that if young people continue to listen to music for long periods of time and at high volume levels during several years, they run the risk of developing hearing loss by the time they reach their mid-20s," the report said, according to the newspaper. "Among young people, there are many reports of temporary or persistent tinnitus induced by loud music, but very few studies have focused on the relationship between the use of personal music players and tinnitus."
The concern over hearing led a Louisiana man to file a class action lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the company had failed to take adequate steps to prevent hearing loss among iPod users. The suit, filed in 2006, charges that the iPod music player can produce sounds of up to 115 decibels, even though some studies suggest that listening to music at that level for 28 seconds a day can cause damage over time.
The suit seeks monetary damages to compensate for the hearing loss suffered by iPod users, as well as a share of Apple's iPod profits. The suit also seeks to force Apple to offer a software upgrade to limit the iPod's output to 100 decibels, as well as provide headphones designed to block out external noise.
While the report noted that the use of personal music players can be "beneficial when performing boring and repetitive tasks," the report's authors warned that threats besides hearing loss loom for their users.
"It may be a hindrance for complicated tasks that require thinking. Music can distract the listeners and isolate them from their environment, which can be very dangerous when driving or walking on busy roads."
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. Before joining CNET News in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers. E-mail Steven. 
And I guess the same thing goes for construction workers, what with all the loud heavy machinery like trucks and jackhammers and whatnot... although there's probably little they can do when there can't that many closed spaces in construction sites.
I have a lowly associates degree and I could have told you that! These studies amuse me"
Yes! We wear hearing protection, or are supposed to, in noisy industrial environments, yet some people don't take care of their ears otherwise.
TV's are sold with volume levels that are way too loud. People could go def watching TV!
This is stupid and should be tossed out of court. If a judge certifies a class action against Apple, he should be removed from the bench.
Just because a device CAN be sued at 115 db doesn't mean it SHOULD be for extended periods. But, since Americans place no value on personal responsibility, they can always find an ethically deaf ear on a court bench.
"Music can distract the listeners and isolate them from their environment which can be very dangerous when driving or walking on busy roads."
We should probably ban radios in cars too, oh, and ban people singing in their cars or while walking.
Some devices have noise level limiter, supposingly to set sound to blast at maximum 85dB, which is the highest 'safest' loud level our ears can hold on to for extended period without going deafer too quickly. However, these functions have their flaw. Of all I owned from Sony Walkman cassette player, to Creative MP3 player, to even SLIX, they have these noise limiting function, but then, if you accidentally turned off the function while you set the volume at 'maximum' (because really, that's when you barely hear the music in noisy environment) they forgot to place a system that gradually increases the volume so you can adjust as quickly as you notice the sound increment in intensity rather than being blasted your hearing out.
I think the figures were wrong. I used to listen to loud music for about 3 hours a day, near full blast, with a gradual 10mins break after every 30minutes, 2 months down the road a 16-year old has suffered permanent tinnitus and pressurized ears.
Don't believe me? Try out yourself and risk your own hearing to all 'music lovers' or should I say, earphones blasters. I think this issues have been going on for years.
As ad added note, if you plan to use earphones, try switching to headphones the soonest possible. Portable speakers can be a good alternative, but even now, there are some that goes far beyond 140dB.
Being exposed to loud noise for extended periods could be damaging to your hearing? Seriously? Thanks for the update Europe.
And this suit is specifically targeting Apple? As if the iPod is the only MP3 player on the market? What about Creative Zen, Zune, and those cheap little plastic RCA things? (Then again, those things probably can't hit 115 decibels anyway.)
I assure you, if Apple attempts to limit the sound that comes out of my iPod and iPhone, I'll be skipping that update.
It's like they dredged up one of those old 'studies' from the 1980's, and did a search and replace on the word "Walkman"...
Heh - wake me when the next generation of portable music equipment gets invented, so we can reaqd all about this yet again.
The iPod already has a limit feature see http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303414
However, I too feel that people should be allowed to destroy their hearing if that is what they want to do
http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/29/apple-to-introduce-ipod-volume-limiter/
The whole suit is just a bunch of money grubbing lawyers try to make a buck without doing any real work.
Staying in the sun will damage your skin,
Driving while drinking may kill you,
"You'll shoot your eye out with that thing!"
Honestly Steven, are you trying to protect us from ourselves? Why is this even news? If people want to do stupid things, they're going to do it. It's not Apple's job, or Sony, or whomever else's fault when I do something stupid.
"I didn't run into that tree officer!! The tree ran into me!!".
I'm so sick of people that refuse to take responsibility for their actions!
** insert rant here **
I don't think I have a problem when I can't hear if someone talks to me looking to other place. I think that happens to everybody (unless you are a dog).
Also, I can't hear my wife yelling to my 4 kids when they make a mess when I am playing CoD4 with my wi-fi headphones... that also happens to every husband. Right?
- by 3rdalbum October 13, 2008 3:35 AM PDT
- You need the extra volume if you are plugging your Mp3 player into a set of speakers, or as an earlier poster pointed out, larger headphones.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (26 Comments)However, I think all Mp3 players should have a volume limiting system that can only be turned off by password; it would be good peace-of-mind for parents as they can set a password on their kids' MP3 players to stop them listening too loud.