Yesterday, an astonishing fact was put forward by the European Union that long term hearing could be damaged among millions of users with the use of personal music players such as Apple’s iPod. 

The scientific research arm of EU warned that listening music on such devices at high levels for an hour a day for over years, can lead to permanent hearing loss for up to 10m of the 100m. 

According to EU officials, the manufacturers might require printing a warning label on the devices and their packages or either re-constructs the product in order to limit their volume. 

As reported by Meglena Kuneva, the EU's consumer affairs commissioner, “I am concerned that so many young people, who are frequent users of personal music players and mobile phones at high acoustic levels, may be unknowingly damaging their hearing irrevocably. The scientific findings indicate a clear risk, and we need to react rapidly.”

This study was requested by the European Commission, since the use of these devices is increasing day by day and specifically among the adolescents. Currently, Europe follows safety standards that allow the music players to be played at the maximum volume of 100 decibels. 

However, EU found that damage could be easily caused by the music above 89 decibels. Further the study conducted found that the new generation of MP3 players imposes greater risk since they can be played at really high volumes without the quality of the sound being lost.  

Software to set the noise limit was introduced by Apple in 2006, following the US lawsuit blaming it for contributing in the hearing loss. Though it is seen as a constructive step by the Commission officials, they want such steps be taken up by whole of the industry. Their recommendation that companies should add warning labels to their products has been opposed by Apple.