Study Warns of Hearing Loss From Music Players

BRUSSELS — Noise from personal music players is a routine annoyance for travelers on buses, trains and planes.

But it also threatens permanent hearing loss for as many as 10 million Europeans who use them, according to a scientific study for the European Union that will be published Monday.

The report said that those who listened for five hours a week at high-volume settings exposed themselves to more noise than permitted in the noisiest factory or work place. Maximum volume on some devices can generate as much noise as an airplane taking off nearby.

The study — from a team of nine specialists on the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks — also warns that young people do not realize the damage until years later.

“Regularly listening to personal music players at high-volume settings when young,” the report said, “often has no immediate effect on hearing but is likely to result in hearing loss later in life.”

The report is the latest of several to warn that the “MP3” generation of youths may be heading for hearing impairment in later life.

But older people may also be vulnerable. In the 27 countries in the European Union, an estimated 50 million to 100 million people out of about 500 million may be listening to portable music players daily, the report said.

Users listening at high volumes for more than an hour a day each week risk permanent hearing loss after five years. This is equivalent to 5 percent to 10 percent of the listeners, which may be 2.5 million to 10 million people in the European Union, the study concluded.

Such fears have already prompted litigation. In 2006 a man in Louisiana filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming the company had failed to take adequate steps to prevent hearing loss among iPod users.

The suit, filed in Federal District Court in San Jose, Calif., claims that the iPod can produce sounds as loud as 115 decibels, when 89 decibels is considered that maximum for safe listening. Apple warns its customers about the danger of hearing loss in its iPod manual.

Personal stereos and portable phones with a music-playing facility are considered a particular threat because ear-bud type earphones lead to a greater sound exposure than other types of listening devices.

“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-twenties,” the report said. “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.”

Meglena Kuneva, the European consumer affairs commissioner, planned to announce a proposal on Monday for a conference in Brussels in 2009 to evaluate the findings with national governments as well as representatives of industry and consumers.

The conference will discuss precautions that users can take, as well as technical solutions to minimize hearing damage. It will also consider whether there is a need for further regulations or revisions of existing safety standards.

The report refers to a 2004 study that recommends limiting listening time to one hour per day and setting the volume to no more than 60 percent of maximum sound output when using headphones that are placed over the ears — and even less when using ear buds.

It said another study suggested restricting the maximum output level of personal music players to 90 decibels.

The Scientific Committee opinion argues that if users of personal music players listen for only five hours a week at volumes exceeding 89 decibels, that level would exceed the current limits in place for noise allowed in the work place.

Last year in Britain, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People warned that more than two-thirds of young people who regularly use MP3 players faced premature hearing damage.

The market for personal music devices continues to boom. In the last four years, estimated sales ranged from 184 to 246 million for all portable audio devices and from 124 to 165 million for MP3 players.

The European Union specialists add that although such listening devices are beneficial to many listeners, there are other dangers apart from hearing loss.

“Listening to music through personal music players can be beneficial when performing boring and repetitive tasks,” the report said.

“However, 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.”

【medical-news】研究警告人们重视由MP3引起的听力损害

研究警告人们应重视音乐播放器引起的听力损害

比利时布鲁塞尔电— 乘坐长途汽车，火车和飞机的旅行者经常受到来自个人音乐播放器噪音的干扰。但是音乐播放器同时也威胁着高达1000万使用着它的欧洲人，它可能使他们产生永久性听力损失，据欧盟的一项周一将发布的科学研究报告显示。

研究报告说，那些每周用高音量听5个小时音乐的人实际上将自己暴露在了比最吵闹的工厂或是工地上所允许的噪音还大的音强中。某些设备的最高音量能接近附近正起飞的飞机所发出的噪音。

该研究— 由来自新兴和新确定健康风险科学委员会的9位专家组成的团队所主导—他们也警告说年轻人直到许多年之后才发现自己的听力已受到损害。

“经常用个人音乐播放器在高音量欣赏音乐的年轻人，”研究报告说，“通常不会发现听力有任何立即发生的变化，但有可能在以后的生活中产生听力损伤。”

该项研究报告是警告“MP3”一代年轻人可能在以后的生活中出现听力损害的数个研究报告中最新的一个。

但是老年人可能同样是脆弱的。在欧盟的27个国家中，据估计在总共的5亿人中有5000万到1亿人可能经常使用便携式音乐播放器，该研究报告说。 每周每天使用大音量听超过一个小时音乐的使用者有在5年后产生永久性听力损伤的危险。这大概占音乐播放器总使用人数的5%-10%，在欧盟辖区内大约是500-1000万人，该研究总结说。

由此带来的恐惧已经引起了法律诉讼。在2006年路易斯安那州的一名男子提交了对苹果公司的诉讼，声称该公司没能采取足够的措施以阻止iPod 所导致的用户听力损害。

该诉讼被提交到了加利福尼亚州圣何塞的联邦地方法院，它声称iPod能够产生高达115分贝的噪音，而89分贝就已经是安全听阈中的最大值了。苹果公司在它的 iPod用户手册中警告了其顾客关于听力损害的危险。

个人音响和带有音乐播放功能的手提电话被认为是重要的威胁，因为耳塞式的耳机会导致一种比其它类型的音乐设备更大的声音暴露。

“一些作者强调如果年轻人在数年时间中持续使用高音量长时间听音乐，那么他们可能在二十几岁时就产生听力损伤。”该研究报告说。“在年轻人中，有许多关于音乐引起的暂时性或者是永久性耳鸣的报告，但是只有很少的研究关注使用个人音乐播放器和耳鸣之间的关系。”

Meglena Kuneva ，欧洲消费者事务专员，打算在这周一宣布一项提案，即在2009年在布鲁塞尔召开一次会议以评估这项发现，与会者将包括国家政府以及制造业和消费者的代表。

该会议将探讨个人音乐播放器的用户能够采取的防范措施，以及能够使听力损伤最小化的技术手段。该会议同时还将讨论是否有必要对现存安全标准进行进一步的规范和修改。

该研究报告参考了一项2004年发布的研究，推荐将听音乐的时间缩减到一天一小时并在使用耳机听音乐时将音量调节到不超过最大音量的60% —在使用耳塞式耳机听音乐时还要更小一些。

它说另一项研究建议将个人音乐播放器的最大音量输出限制在90分贝。

科学委员会意见上的分歧在于个人音乐播放器的用户用超过89分贝的音量每周仅仅听5小时音乐，是否就会超过目前工地上实行的噪音允许限度的音强暴露。

去年在英国，国立皇家聋人研究所警告说，超过2/3的经常使用MP3的年轻人都面临着永久性听力损害的风险。

个人音乐设备的市场还在蓬勃发展中。据估计在过去的4年中所有种类的便携式音频设备的销售额在1.84亿到2.46亿欧元之间，其中MP3的销售额大约在1.24亿至1.65亿欧元。

欧盟的专家补充说，尽管这一类的音乐设备为许多使用者带来了帮助，但除了听力损伤之外它们还有其它害处。

”用个人音乐播放器听音乐在进行令人厌倦的重复工作时是对人有帮助的。“该研究报告说。

“然而，对于需要思考的复杂任务而言，它却构成了阻碍。音乐会使人分心并使他们从他们所处的环境中孤立出来，而这对于在驾驶或是在繁忙的道路上行走是非常危险的。”（1514字）