The number of teenagers with hearing loss in Germany is set to increase to nine million. The unsettling projection was made by Henning Wiegels, the chief specialist at the ear, nose and throat clinic in Schwerin.
According to Wiegels, the main reason is what he terms "the quite unnecessary leisure time noise" from discotheques, MP3 players, etc. He estimates that by the time today's German teenagers reach age 40, their hearing will be at the level of today's 60 year-olds.
The survey titled "Schallpegel in Diskotheken und bei Musikveranstaltungen" and carried out in 2000, demonstrated a clear relationship between listening habits and hearing damage among German teenagers. Teenagers with a history of several years of listening to MP3 players for more than two hours a day and one or more discotheque visits per week recorded an average hearing loss of 10 dB at high frequencies when compared to the other survey respondents.
Wiegels cautioned that nine million young Germans will be added to the present number of 15 million Germans with hearing loss in coming years. He recommended that legal noise limits be established, like in Switzerland, for the permitted maximum noise exposure in discos and from MP3 players.
Sources: Hören-Heute and Umwelt Bundes Amt |
