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RNID warns that the MP3 Generation Are Facing Premature Hearing Damage

RNID’s Don’t Lose the Music Campaign today warns that a whole generation of young people could be risking premature hearing damage, thanks to the popularity of MP3 players and other audio products that attach directly to the ears. RNID is issuing this warning as early indications from new research amongst 16-30 year olds  show a worrying lack of awareness amongst this age group that listening to music too loudly through headphones can potentially damage hearing.

RNID has been running the Don’t Lose the Music Campaign for three years. The campaign aims to raise awareness amongst music fans of the dangers of over exposure to loud music. The campaign recently conducted in-depth research amongst 16-30 year olds across the country to discover their attitudes towards protecting their hearing. The results are still being analysed, but the clear message is that young people are largely unaware of the dangers.

RNID is today issuing simple guidelines as a matter of urgency to allow music fans to continue to listen to their MP3 players more safely.

Dr John Low, Chief Executive, RNID said: “If young people don’t heed our warnings about safer listening, they could end up facing premature hearing damage. The data from our focus groups is still being analysed, however the initial findings show very clearly that young people are frighteningly unaware of the dangers of listening to their MP3 players too loudly.

New technology and ever-increasing storage capacity enables people to listen non-stop for hours – and at louder volumes than ever before.  If you are regularly plugged in, it is only too easy to clock up noise doses that could damage your hearing forever.

We’re also aware that some users are downloading unofficial codes to override the volume limiters of leading brands of MP3 players to increase their maximum volume levels. An increase of only a few decibels has a dramatic effect on the danger to hearing - an increase of only 3 dB(A) represents a doubling of sound energy and halves the time you should listen for.

RNID’s Don’t Lose the Music Campaign, wants people to be aware of the risks and take control to protect one of their biggest social assets – their hearing.”

There were over 6.3 million MP3 players sold in 2005 in the UK alone, and RNID research  reveals that young people especially are listening to them at levels that can cause hearing loss with prolonged use. The figures show that 51.4% of 16-24 year olds listen to their stereos at least an hour a day with 19.7% listening for more than 21 hours a week.

Ian, 23 from Glasgow says “Sometimes I don’t realise how high I’ve got it up and I think it’s not that loud, and I go and turn it up and I realise that it’s already up fully, so either I’ve gone a bit deaf or I’ve just got used to it.”
 
Angela King, Senior Audiologist, RNID, says: "RNID’s Don’t Lose the Music Campaign is encouraging all users of MP3 players to reduce the volume slightly on their devices – this can go a long way to reducing the damage to your ears.

One of the problems for personal audio users is that different sound files can play at very different volumes. We’d like to see people take more control by using features like the option that sets volume to be the same regardless of what you’ve stored. That way – once you’ve set it for comfortable listening – you won’t need to keep fiddling. You can enjoy safer listening and avoid stressing your ears”

RNID’s Don’t Lose the Music Campaign is particularly concerned about the use of MP3 players amongst young people not only because of the high volumes, but the length of time they listen to them for.

Angela King continues: “Hearing loss from loud noise is caused by listening too loudly for too long a period of time. Ringing or buzzing in your ears after a long stint of being plugged into your audio is a warning sign that if you continue to stress your ears like this, you could damage your hearing permanently.”

RNID’s warnings may come too late for some. Chris, 21, from Manchester says “I’ve stopped listening to my iPod recently ‘cos I’ve got in-ear headphones and they’re just too bright. When I listen to good quality downloads and I can hear drums crackling, I take out the earphones and still feel my ears throbbing for like an hour afterwards – I’ve got ringing in my ears you know.”

RNID is issuing the following Safe Listening Guidelines for personal music players:

  • Take regular breaks from your headphones to give your ears a rest. 
  • Turn down the volume a notch - even a small reduction in volume can make a big difference to the risk of damage to your hearing. 
  • Avoid using the volume to drown out background noise, for example the sound of the train or traffic (find out about additions to in-ear headphones that help with this problem).
  • If your MP3 player has a ‘smart volume’ feature, then use it, once you’ve set the volume of your player for comfortable listening.

RNID’s Don’t Lose the Music Campaign does not aim to stop people enjoying music, but wants to encourage people to protect themselves against the cumulative effects of loud music so they can enjoy the music they love for the rest of their lives.

The first ever Don’t Lose the Music Week will be launched on September 4 2006.

For further information or case studies to support this press release contact Susan Duncan, Senior Media Relations Officer (fundraising) Tel: 020 7296 8136 or email: susan.duncan@rnid.org.uk