EU to cut volume on MP3 players

Published on Sunday 13 December 2009 21:52

THE European Union plans to introduce volume restrictions for MP3 players in new legislation.

Fears that listening to the portable music players at high volume could cause hearing damage has prompted the EU to act, according to a report yesterday.

The EU plans to launch a consultation early next year with a final decision coming in the spring.

Stephen Russell of the European consumer lobby ANEC, told the BBC's Politics Show: "There are up to ten million Europeans, mainly young people, at risk of losing their hearing permanently in the next five years due to their personal listening habits.

"Some of the units on the market at the moment are capable of generating a volume of beyond 115 decibels. If we compare that with health and safety legislation, workers are not allowed to be exposed to that levels of volume for more than 30 seconds."

Dr Robin Yeoh, a consultant at the Portland Hospital in London, told the programme: "We're seeing much fewer people working in heavy industry, they're much younger, and the suspicion is that a lot of them have been exposed to such recreational noise.

"Once you damage the nerves of your inner ear, that's permanent, there's no medication, surgery, therapy that's going to reverse it."