By Stevie Smith Sep 12, 2007, 13:53 GMT
The risks associated with hear loss and personal headphone use are nothing out of the ordinary and have been an issue of concern since way back in the 1980s and the arrival of the Walkman. However, a UK-based charity is now warning that more than 66 percent of young MP3 users are running the gauntlet of premature deafness.
Specifically, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) has revealed that its survey threw up worrying figures related to headphone sound levels and hearing loss. The charity has subsequently criticised hardware makers for not placing usage warnings on their products while also advising digital MP3 player consumers to fit in-ear background noise filters to their headphones in order to reduce the need for extra volume and better protect their hearing in the long run.
The survey, spread across MP3 player users located in Birmingham, Brighton, and Manchester, returned that 72 of the 110 people tested were found to be playing their portable music at volumes surpassing 85 decibels. The BBC news Web site equates that to "a loud alarm clock at close proximity," while the World Health Organisation claims that prolonged headphone use at 85 decibels is certainly capable of causing hearing damage.
In that regard, the RNID survey discovered that close to 50 percent of respondents are immersed in portable music for over an hour a day, while around 25 percent say their headphones are clamped on their ears for more than 21 hours every week. With the RNID pointing accusatory fingers at player manufacturers over the lack of consumer warnings, the survey unveiled that 58 percent of users were ignorant to any headphone-related risk, and 79 percent claim to never have seen package warnings outlining the potential risks.
"MP3 manufacturers have a responsibility to make their customers aware of the dangers by printing clear warnings on packaging and linking volume controls to decibel levels," said Brian Lamb, the RNID’s acting chief executive. "It’s easy to crank up the sound levels on your MP3 player to damagingly loud levels, especially on busy streets or public transport… But if people can hear the music from your headphones from just a metre away, you're putting your hearing at risk."
The RNID has also said that this latest survey offers similar results to one it ran in 2006. Following its initial foray into the risks of MP3 headphone use, the charity contacted 55 MP3 player manufacturers with a request to include music level warnings on the packaging of their products. To date they have received only two replies.
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