New research conducted within the European Union suggests that the use of personal music players such as iPods and other MP3 players could result in permanent hearing damage for millions of Europeans. The Washington Post reports that researchers from the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks have determined that individuals who listen to music with personal MP3 players at loud volumes for five hours a week are exposed to more damaging noise levels than workers in even the noisiest shop floors and factories in Europe.

A related article in the New York Times suggested that the volume levels on many MP3 players can be turned up as loud as the sound of airplanes taking off from the runway. Those at greatest risk are users who listen to music with an iPod or other MP3 player for more than one hour daily.

Under these circumstances, the research suggests that the risk of permanent hearing loss rises significantly after five years. Other researchers have concluded that the use of high-volume personal music players among the young normally has no immediate detrimental affect, but significantly increases the chances of suffering loss of hearing in the future.

With so many people walking around with ear buds in the ears, listening to music on the way to and from work, while exercising or jogging, or simply while doing chores around the house, the European committee is concerned that hearing loss could become a widespread problem within the next five years. Reportedly, somewhere between 50 and 100 million people own MP3 players or other personal music players on the European continent alone.

Across the Atlantic things aren’t very much better. Hearing specialists in the United States and Canada have been warning people of the dangers of listening to music at high volumes on personal music players for years. Researchers have pointed out that users often turn up the volume on MP3 players much louder than normal in an attempt to drown out background noise and traffic sounds. The increased volume (over an extended period of time) can damage the inner ear and lead to partial or even full hearing loss later in life.

And it’s not just young people who are strapping on the earbuds. The demographic of individuals using personal MP3 players runs the gamut from pre-teens to octogenarians. In fact, the largest growth in the market has been seeing in the over 50 crowd. And these days you don’t even have to buy an iPod or other MP3 player to get involved: pretty much every mobile phone sold in 2008 has a built in MP3 player.

• Caring For Your Ears
• Weight Loss Surgery - One Way To Fight Chronic Obesity
• Common Causes of Hair Loss
• Research Confirms Vioxx Increases Risk of Heart Attack
• Herbalife Weight Loss Diet - Driven By Herbal Nutrition Supplement