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By Joshua Chaffin in Brussels
Published: October 14 2008 03:08 | Last updated: October 14 2008 03:08
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

Personal music players such as Apple’s iPod could cause long-term hearing damage among millions of users, the European Union warned on Monday.

The EU’s scientific research arm concluded that listening to such devices at high levels for an hour a day over five years could lead to permanent hearing loss for up to 10m of the 100m Europeans who use personal music devices each day.

Those findings could lead to further regulation, with manufacturers either forced to print warning labels on devices and their packaging or re-engineer products to limit their volume, according to EU officials.

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

The European Commission requested the study because of the popularity of such devices, particularly among adolescents. Europe currently has a safety standard that limits personal music players to a maximum volume of 100 decibels. However, its scientific research group found that sustained exposure to music above 89 decibels could cause damage. It also found that the new generation of MP3 players present particular risks because they are capable of being played at high volumes without loss of sound quality.

Apple, maker of the iPod, the most popular personal music player, introduced software in 2006 that allows users to set noise limits after it was accused in a US lawsuit of contributing to hearing loss.

Commission officials view that as a positive step, but want safety measures to be adopted across the industry. They may follow France’s example and ask companies to add warning labels to their packages – something that Apple has opposed.