Permanent hearing loss is just five years down the road for young people who listen to portable music players at too high a volume for more than five hours a week, European scientists warn.  The study was requested by the European Union’s (EU) executive arm, the European Commission and its report was released this week.

Commission experts estimate that 50 to 100 million Europeans listen to portable music players on a daily basis.  Listening for only five hours a week at more than 89 decibels would already exceed EU limits for noise allowed in the workplace. The scientists calculate that five to 10 percent of listeners are attached to their players for even longer periods and risk permanent hearing loss in just five years.

The study attacked the concept of “leisure noise,” and argued that children and teenagers should be protected from increasingly high sound levels.  Sales of personal music players, particularly MP3 players, have soared in EU countries to an estimated 184 to 246 million.

Mobile phones also come under criticism in the report.  Meglena Kuneva, the EU’s consumer affairs commissioner, said “I am concerned that so many young people… who are frequent users of personal music players and mobile phones at high acoustic levels, may be unknowingly damaging their hearing irrevocably.

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