Warning over headphones
RESEARCHERS have warned of the danger that listening to loud music through headphones poses to hearing.
Young people in particular are thought to be at risk after a survey found 90 per cent of 12 to 19-year-olds use MP3 players and smartphones to listen to music, and half of them admitted to liking it loud.
Amplifon’s Portsmouth audiologist Anne McLeod said: ‘There’s growing evidence that shows people who regularly listen to loud music through earphones are damaging their hearing.
‘They don’t often realise they are doing it and it’s a particular concern among young people simply because of the vast numbers who use music players regularly.’
The research shows some devices can produce maximum sound levels of 120 decibels.