Audio players, concerts and bars can pose a ‘serious threat’ for teenagers and young adults.
According to World Health Organization, around 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of permanently damaging their hearing by listening to too much loud sound.
The figures showed 43 million people aged 12-35 have suffering from hearing loss and the number is still increasing. Around half of rich and middle-income people in that age group are exposed to unsafe sound levels from personal audio devices.
The organization stated that by limiting the use of audio devices to less than one hour a day can reduce the risk of damage. It has also added that even an hour can also be risky if the volume is too loud.
As per WHO, the safe listening times are:
85 dB-the noise level inside a car-8 hours
90dB-lawn mower-2 hours 30 minutes
95dB-an average motorcycle-47 minutes
100dB-car horn or underground train-15 minutes
105dB-mp3 player at maximum volume-4 minutes
115dB-loud rock concert-28 seconds
120dB-sirens-9 seconds
The thumb rule is keep the volume to 60% of the maximum, as per WHO
