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Hearing damage from MP3 players
(Part 1/3)
Nowadays most young people cannot imagine life without a mobile phone and MP3 player. They want to party and have fun, and loud music is part of that.
And for many Pop and Hip-Hop fans it just can’t be loud enough, as a survey by the TV station RTL has revealed. As this fun is available anywhere with an MP3 player, the small, light, playback device is consequently used intensively.
According to a British study, 39 percent of 18 to 24 year olds listen to music for at least an hour a day at up to 105 decibels. This means they are subjecting their ears to a level of noise which they should not be tolerating for more than 25 minutes per week. It has been estimated that with this permanent overtaxing there is a danger of becoming deaf within about five years. The snag with loud music is that it communicates an emotional experience and is thus naturally considered more pleasant than similarly loud noise caused by work equipment such as pneumatic drills and chainsaws.
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