Newswise — For audiologists like Rebecca Brooks, the current debate over iPods causing hearing loss is just another indicator of how America's "noise-induced" society is causing more hearing problems at earlier ages.
"We, in the United States, are exposed to low levels of noise constantly and that exposure is affecting us physically," said Brooks, coordinator of audiology at The University of Alabama. "The incidence of hearing loss will do nothing but increase.
"The research data that is currently available says that we, as a society, will have more hearing loss later in life than those folks in, say Honduras, who only listen to Mother Nature and use machetes not power tools."
Brooks says the key to "noise-induced" hearing loss is the relationship between intensity level and exposure time.
"For example, with an iPod, the kid who puts on earbuds as he walks out of school and falls asleep with them still in his ear probably does exceed safe exposure limits."
RSS