ISU-Boise research explores kids' use of iPods, MP3 players

IPods turned up loud make a sweet soundtrack for life, but take care or you may find yourself wearing hearing aids long before you are old enough to qualify for senior discounts at your favorite restaurants.

Prompted by scholarly studies showing noise-induced hearing loss in ever-younger patients nationwide, Idaho State University-Boise assistant professor Mel Miller and some of his students are writing up the results of a study they conducted into the use of iPods, MP3 players and similar personal stereo devices at a sampling of Boise and Meridian elementary schools. The schools are in neighborhoods representing a range of socioeconomic levels.

The researchers hope their message, "Don't listen too long too loud in the early grades," eventually will make it into the health curriculum of elementary schools.

Miller found that up to two-thirds of students had access to the players as early as the third grade, regardless of which school they attended. By sixth grade, the percentage rose to 85 to 90 percent. On average, students listened about three-fourths of an hour in third grade and 1 1/2 hours a day by sixth grade. Some kids went way past that. "By fourth grade, there were already some who were listening up to six hours a day," Miller said.

That's alarming because hearing loss doesn't happen overnight, and it's not reversible. It takes time and steady exposure to loud noise, Miller said. Some children and adults likely listen through their earphones at levels that would violate national on-the-job standards if they worked at a construction site, a sawmill or other noisy workplace.

Erika Blanchard, audiologist and clinic manager at Hearing and Balance Centers at the Elks, said her clinic, which fits at least 500 people a year with hearing aids, is seeing younger patients, but much of the increase so far is because of increased efforts to identify infants and children with hearing loss.

"I expect that trend might change or increase in the future, just because people are wearing their headsets for a longer period of time," said Blanchard, who has an iPod and loves it.

The baby boomers aren’t hooked on iPods, but the generations marching behind them are, she said. They will give hearing aids a real workout, she suspects. Apple’s iPod reaches
100 to 125 decibels at its highest volume, louder than the noise at a sawmill.


"To be safe, only listen to the louder levels on your player for short periods of time, like 15 to 30 minutes, before giving your ears a rest," Miller said.

"If they've got it full on, if they do this repeatedly, they are at risk for hearing loss," Miller said. But, he added, "Not that many people listen to it that loud.

Studies have shown that probably 80 percent of the people are going to be OK, based on their usage, but somewhere around 20 to 25 percent are putting themselves at risk because of their listening habits."

Even Miller is not immune to the lure of listening loud. His weakness: Lynyrd Skynyrd. "When I turn on Lynyrd Skynyrd and have it blasting in my ears, after a couple of songs I will take a break."