Listening to personal music players at a high volume over a sustained period can lead to permanent hearing damage, according to an opinion of the EU Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) released today.
The scientific opinion shows that 5-10% of personal music player listeners risk permanent hearing loss, if they listen to a personal music player for more than one hour per day each week at high volume settings for at least 5 years.
The European Commission had asked the independent scientific committee to examine this issue, given the widespread use of personal music players and the surge in the number of young people exposed to such noise. Scientists confirmed that there is cause for concern and the European Commission will now examine with Member States and stakeholders, possible measures that could be taken to better protect children and adolescents from exposure to noise from personal music players and other similar devices.
EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, said: "I am concerned that so many young people, in particular, who are frequent users of personal music players and mobile phones at high acoustic levels, may be unknowingly damaging their hearing irrevocably. The scientific findings indicate a clear risk and we need to react rapidly. Most importantly we need to raise consumer awareness and put this information in the public domain. We need also to look again at the controls in place, in the light of this scientific advice, to make sure they are fully effective and keep pace with new technology."
The current rules
A European safety standard already exists restricting the noise level of personal music players to 100 dB, but there is increased concern over hearing damage from excessive exposure to such sources, the European Commission said.
Such damage can be prevented to a large extent by measures such as reducing the noise exposure levels and duration.
"The EU Scientific Committee opinion shows that users of personal music players - if they listen for only 5 hours per week at high volume control settings (exceeding 89 decibels) would exceed the current limits in place for noise allowed in the workplace. Users listening for longer periods risk permanent hearing loss after 5 years. This approximates to 5-10% of the listeners, which may be between 2.5 and 10 million people in the EU," the commission said.
The Commission is organising a seminar in early 2009 in Brussels to evaluate the findings of the Scientific Committee with Member States, industry, consumers and other stakeholders and to discuss the way forward. The seminar will address precautions that users can take, as well as technical solutions to minimise hearing damage and the need for further regulations or revisions of existing safety standards to protect consumers.