Health experts in Shanghai and Guangzhou warn that more young
people face the risk of hearing loss due to excessive use of MP3s
and Walkmans.
A survey of 1,800 young people by the Shanghai hearing science
center showed that about 14 of them are suffering from loss of
hearing.
Also, some primary school students are suffering from buzzing in
their ears, a problem that afflicts only adults.
According to Wu Hao, a doctor at Shanghai Children's Medical
Center, hearing damage among teenagers was mainly caused by drugs
20 years ago. Hearing loss from over-exposure to noise happened
mainly among workers in very noisy environments.
"Hearing loss from noise among teenagers was hardly seen at that
time," he said. "Now it has become the most important reason for
hearing loss among school students, while drug-caused hearing
damage is rarely seen now, as people learn more about side effects
of some medicines."
Chi Fanglu, professor at the Ear Nose and Throat Hospital of
Fudan University warned that listening to portable music players
for long hours could result in more youngsters suffering hearing
loss.
"I could hardly do without my Ipod when I bought it," Wu
Manqiao, a 24-year-old woman, said.
Exposed to noise above 90 decibels for two weeks consecutively
could result in total deafness, Wang Zhengmin, another professor
from the same hospital warned.
He said that young people who wear earplugs listening to MP3s or
other portable music players face the risk of total deafness 30
years earlier than their parents' generation.
Many people turn up the volume on their portable players in
public places. If it is more than 105 decibels it could cause
permanent damage to hearing.
Experts suggest that people should not listen to a portable
music player for more than an hour each day, and when they do, they
should set the volume no more than 60 percent of its maximum.
In Guangzhou, the capital city of south China's Guangdong
Province, the number of people who have hearing problems exceeds
140,000, accounting for 25 percent of the total number of people
suffering from other ailments.
A hospital there recently conducted a survey among college
students in the city and found that one-third of them have
developed hearing problems.
(China Daily March 8, 2007)