Reno Peloso loved to listen to the radio during chores; he would pull on the headphones and listen to music while he was mowing the lawn, doing renovations or gardening. "The louder the power tool I was using, the louder I put the volume. I could drown out any noise," he said.
Today, at 59, Mr. Peloso is suffering from noise-induced hearing loss, the result of years of relentless assault on his eardrums.
The Sudbury, Ont., teacher took early retirement because he could no longer hear his students properly. While he has adjusted well to hearing aids, the one thing he cannot stomach is the growing legions of young people with music blaring from iPod headphones seemingly 24/7.
"My message to them is: You're going to pay the price," Mr. Peloso said. "Your hearing is precious, so don't make the same mistake as me."
That message is being delivered, too, by a new education campaign aimed at young people. "We know that teenagers aren't going to be swayed by dire warnings, but we know they love music, and maybe they will protect their ears if they realize it will allow them to enjoy music for many more years," said Heather Ferguson, president of the Hearing Foundation of Canada.
The group's Sound Sense program is being delivered in schools in Ontario and Alberta, and in a new ad campaign.
Noise-induced hearing loss has long been a problem. Generations of young men and women suffered hearing loss on the battlefields of the First and Second World War, and in the factories back home. The advent of all kinds of power tools for use around the home and yard, from lawnmowers to buzz saws, and ever-more-powerful stereos in the home and car, added to the cacophony of modern life, as did the arrival of rock 'n' roll.
But the Walkman and now the iPod and other portable entertainment devices have left an increasingly younger generation at risk of damage to their hearing.
Pete Townshend, former guitarist with The Who, who is profoundly hearing impaired, delivered a dire warning recently to the iPod generation that too much music, too loud, is a real danger. "My intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead," he said.
Leading scientists agree, saying the omnipresent loudness of modern life, topped off with an ever-present beat thumping in the earphones, could have dire consequences. "The danger for hearing loss tends to be with young people because they tend to really push the limits," said Dr. Robert Harrison, a senior scientist in the brain and behaviour division at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
He said portable entertainment devices do not produce sound levels loud enough to deafen a person immediately -- or even to cause them any physical discomfort -- but the damage occurs gradually over time.
The human hearing system is extremely complex. Overexposure to noise harms the sensitive hair cells of the inner ear and the auditory nerve. "If you damage those hairs and neurons early in life, they won't be there when you need them," Dr. Harrison said. "The result will be hearing loss in middle age, rather than old age."
What distinguishes the new generation of music devices is their portability and long battery life so they can be worn for hours on end. Many are equipped with bud-type earphones, which tend to be loose fitting and pop out, so users have a tendency to crank up the volume.
"The real problem I see is kids turning up the volume to block out ambient noise from their noisy environment," Dr. Harrison said. He recommends using the new generation of "noise-cancelling" headphones that filter out outside noise.
But how loud is too loud?
Technically, prolonged exposure to sounds over 80 decibels can cause damage. Australian researchers who stopped people on the street and tested their music players with sound meters found the average level was about 80 decibels, but went as high as 120 decibels -- the equivalent of holding a power drill up to your ear.
The younger people were, the louder their music tended to be. It is no wonder then that a recent U.S. study found that one in eight six-year-olds to 19-year-olds shows signs of noise-induced hearing loss.
Ms. Ferguson said the key to tackling the problem, and avoiding an epidemic of hearing loss in young adults, is education.
Mr. Peloso now wears noise-reducing ear protectors instead of headphones but still listens to the radio -- quietly -- in his old earphones while he is gardening.
"I can't blame the Rolling Stones for what happened to me. I just wasn't thinking of the risks."
Volume of everyday things
The soaring use of iPods and other portable MP3 music players could damage hearing. These devices, at peak volumes, are louder than chainsaws. Some common decibel (dB) levels:
| Raindrops | 40 dB |
| Normal conversation | 60 dB |
| Busy city traffic | 85 dB |
| Hair dryer | 90 dB |
| Rock concert | 105 dB |
| Chainsaw | 110 dB |
| iPod at peak volume | 115 dB |
| Jackhammer | 120 dB |
| Gunshots and fireworks | 140 dB |
Decibel exposure guidelines
Accepted standards for exposure time for continuous noise. For every 3 dBs over 85 dB, the permissible exposure time before damage can occur is cut in half.
| 85 dB | 8 hours |
| 88 dB | 4 hours |
| 91 dB | 2 hours |
| 94 dB | 1 hour |
| 97 dB | 30 minutes |
| 100 dB | 15 minutes |
| 103 dB | 7.5 minutes |
| 106 dB | less than 4 minutes |
| 109 dB | less than 2 minutes |
| 112 dB | less than 1 minute |
| 115 dB | less than 30 seconds |
SOURCE: WWW.DANGEROUSDECIBELS.ORG
