September 8 : You may be at the risk of sustaining premature hearing loss if people can hear the music from your headphones from just a metre away, warns a charity.

The Royal National Institute for Deaf People has found that 72 out of 110 MP3 users tested in Brighton, Manchester and Birmingham are at a risk of premature hearing damage, as they listen to music at volumes above 85 decibels.

As per the suggestion of the World Health Organization, listening to earphones at 85 decibels or more for over an hour at a time can damage hearing.

The latest research found that almost half of the youngsters who use MP3 players listen for more than an hour a day, with a quarter listening for more than 21 hours a week.

It was also found that 58 per cent of the study subjects were unaware of listening to high volumes, and that 79 per cent had never seen warnings about noise levels on the packaging of MP3 players.

An RNID spokeswoman said that the charity had written to 55 manufacturers of MP3 players and mobile phones last September asking them to put clearer on pack warning about the dangers of listening to their products at high volumes.

However, their suggestion received a lukewarm response from the manufacturers contacted, she said.

“We heard back from two,” the BBC quoted her as saying.

Brain Lamb, acting chief executive of RNID, said that MP3 manufacturers owed a responsibility to make their customers aware of the potential harms of their products.

“MP3 manufacturers have a responsibility to make their customers aware of the dangers by printing clear warnings on packaging and linking volume controls to decibel levels,” he said.

“It’s easy to crank up the sound levels on your MP3 player to damagingly loud levels, especially on busy streets or public transport. But if people can hear the music from your headphones from just a metre away, you’re putting your hearing at risk,” he added. (ANI)