Noise-induced Hearing Loss

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) can be caused by continuous exposure to loud sounds over an extended period of time, including music played loudly on a personal music player. The EU Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) has issued a warning that this is a serious health risk, and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) has recently issued new safety standards for music players and mobile-phones.

A recent academic study has reported an increase in hearing loss among groups using PMPs extensively. Hearing loss in a sample of US adolescents, aged 12 to 19 years, increased significantly from 14.9%, in 1988-1994, to 19.5% in 2005-2006.

A further study has revealed that listening to loud music through earphones can cause neurophysiological changes related to the clear discrimination of sounds, even if the hearing threshold is normal, as described in the abstract of the paper:

“Our conclusion is that extensive and inadequate usage of portable music players could cause subtle damages, which standard behavioural audiometric measures fail to detect in an early stage. However, these damages could lead to future irreversible hearing disorders, which would have a huge negative impact on the quality of life of those affected, and the society as a whole.”

One of the researchers, Dr Okamoto, subsequently stated: “It would be better to suppress environmental noises by using devices such as noise cancellers instead of turning up the volume when enjoying a mobile music player in a noisy place.”