Report broke today concerning a study requested by the European Union indicates that teens and young adults are risking permanent hearing loss if they listen to their MP3players at a high volume for more than five hours a week. The report also takes a pot-shot at high-volume mobile phones.
This report from Reuters that I saw on Yahoo earlier today is rather typical of the coverage given to this report.
And a good analysis of the study is available here on a site called studenttechnews.net.
The concern about the volume of popular music – at concerts and clubs, via Walkman and traditional audio systems – have been around at least since I was young in the 1960s and 1970s, so this survey isn’t a surprise.
What is surprising is that I haven’t seen are statements from Apple and other MP3 makers, as well as headphone suppliers that dispute this survey. But I’m sure we will soon.
