Whether he has the palm-sized device hooked into his car stereo or he's listening through ear buds, Taylor said he keeps the volume "really, really loud." "I pay for a system in my car that would make you deaf, so I kind of expect it," Taylor said of the impending hearing loss some say he could be facing. "I like my music loud. It sounds better that way. That's the price I pay."

Technology has made music more accessible than ever, and iPods and other MP3 players seem to be everywhere. Unlike the portable music players of the 1980s and 1990s, the modern devices are compact and lightweight, and the batteries last longer.

But some experts warn that the music players -- played too loud and too frequently -- can cause hearing loss.

Ray Hull, a professor of communication sciences and disorders at Wichita State University in Kansas, said iPods and other personal music players are irritating an already existing noise problem. Movie theaters, some toys, automobiles and even lawnmowers are loud enough, he said, to cause damage.

People are becoming more aware of the potential dangers of devices like iPods, Hull said, as hearing loss among the young becomes more common.

"We notice a lot of people out there who are 35 years old who are having difficulty understanding what people are saying at parties and other noises," Hull said. "They're just not hearing as well as they used to, and we're noticing it at younger and younger ages. It's really epidemic among teenagers."

Audiologist Anne Marie Taylor said she has noticed a gradual increase in the number of younger people she is treating in her Panama City office.

"I can't pinpoint a specific toy or thing they are wearing," Taylor said. "But I do know that we are seeing more and more kids with hearing damage."

Taylor estimates about half of the patients at Alpha Audiology on Jenks Avenue are children. That's up from about 20 percent a few years ago, by her measurement.

"That's unusual," Taylor said.

As research, Hull stops MP3 player listeners to measure the sound level on their ear buds or muff-style headphones. The last time Hull counted, he had tested 75 to 100 headsets, some with volumes as high as 120 decibels.

The louder the volume, the faster damage can occur, Taylor said.

"Some of these things, when you listen to them at a low level, they're fine," she said. "But if you crank them up too loud, you're getting a lot more sound now."

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has set the safe exposure limit at 85 decibels for eight hours a day. As the volume level increases, the prescribed safe exposure time drops.

At 110 decibels, safe listening time is 15 minutes. At 115 decibels, it is 7 minutes, 30 seconds. And at 120 decibels, it is 3 minutes, 45 seconds.

The inner ear is made up of about 18,000 nerve cells, Hull said. With excessive noise exposure, the nerve receptors can become fatigued.

"They become so tired they die," Hull said, explaining how damage occurs. "It's as simple as that."

Sound intensity varies with different music players. Typically, more money buys more sound. As a general rule, Hull recommends keeping volume no higher than 60 percent.

Damage from overexposure may not be noticed immediately.

"People take their ear buds off and things are kind of quiet for a while and then it goes back to normal," Taylor said. "They think they're fine. What happens is the damage mounts over time. A fraction at a time."

Kids especially, Hull said, may not notice damage until it makes a big impact.

Jakob Dodd listens to music on his portable game player, but he said he keeps the volume at a moderate level so he can hear what is going on around him. Dodd, 19, of Panama City Beach, said he has become so used to listening he can handle social situations with one ear bud in his ear.

As for higher sound levels, Dodd said, "I believe you just get used to it. I don't believe you go deaf."

Bill Husfelt, the principal of Mosley High School, said he is seeing more and more personal music players at school.

"They've got them right and left," he said.

The devices are not allowed on campus, but Husfelt said he has some empathy for kids who ride the bus for several hours a day.

"Many of the kids that have the iPods are kids that ride the buses," he said.

Teachers do not search them out, but if they see MP3 players, Husfelt said, the devices are confiscated. More than hearing loss, Husfelt is concerned about the devices being stolen.

"I don't think hearing loss is any bigger problem now than when you were in school and kids went to bands and concerts," Husfelt said.

By TMCnet
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-personal-music-players-harming-our-hearing-/2006/01/29/1322974.htm