The iPod was introduced 10 years ago today

Are iPods Behind Rising Teen Hearing Loss?

From Time Magazine:
That’s what the latest analysis of national health data on adolescents shows. Between 1988-94 and 2005-06, the percentage of teens with hearing loss jumped by about a third, from 15% of 12-to-19-year-olds to 19.5%. And the reason may not be the ubiquitous earphones that snake from nearly every teen’s ears during most hours of the day.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2011503,00.html?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0wzqNIolZ

Vuvuzela tops noise league, seen threat to hearing

By Gordon Bell Gordon Bell – Mon Jun 7, 10:17 am ET

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s vuvuzela, the trumpet that will be a fixture at World Cup matches, is the loudest of all fan instruments and can cause permanent hearing loss, a global hearing foundation said on Monday.

Soccer governing body FIFA has okayed the plastic trumpet for the tournament, which starts on Friday, after organisers did tests at a match at Johannesburg’s 95,000-seater Soccer City due to worries the din could drown out emergency announcements.

While normally reserved for local games, the vuvuzela can now also be heard at warm-up matches and practice sessions ahead of the tournament, even those not involving South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.

The Hear the World Foundation — an initiative formed by Swiss hearing products group Phonak to raise awareness about hearing loss — said tests showed it produced a dangerously loud sound, far out-blasting a chainsaw.

The tests, conducted late last month in a sound-proof studio, found the vuvuzela emitted 127 decibels, more than the air horn — 123.5 decibels — and the Brazil’s samba drums.

A referee’s whistle was fourth while the cowbell, a favourite in Switzerland and Austria, trailed at 114.9 decibels.

“To put it in perspective, when a sound is increased by ten decibels our ears perceive it as being twice as loud, so we would consider the vuvuzela to be more than double the volume of the cowbell,” audiologist Robert Beiny said in a statement.

Hear the World said extended exposure to 85 decibels risked permanent hearing loss and urged fans to use protection, such as ear plugs and ear muffs.

The vuvuzela can be heard across South Africa as football fever grows ahead of the June 11-July 11 tournament, from airports to shopping centres, but at stadiums tens of thousands of people will blow the trumpet, such like constant car hooters in a traffic jam.

Some foreign players complained at last year’s Confederation Cup about the din, and Thailand manager Bryan Robson that he was unable to communicate with his players during a friendly against South Africa.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has defended it, though, saying it has as much a part of local football as bongo drums and chanting in other countries.

South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parriera wants even more noise to help inspire the world’s lowly 83rd-ranked Bafana Bafana through its tough Group A matches against Mexico (June 11), and former champions Uruguay (June 16) and France (June 22).

The study found that it was not only trumpets, drums and horns that can hurt your ears, two excited supporters cheering a goal on either side of you can produce 121.6 decibels, also drowning out a chainsaw at just 100 decibels.

(Reporting by Gordon Bell, Editing by Nigel Hunt)

My Day With The iPad

After finally playing with the iPad for the day I got a few first impressions. It’s cool, even though I’d sooner have a laptop (but aside from personal preference,) it’s a new way to consume media that impacts to how many iPad users use headphones. Specifically more reasons to use headphones to watch TV, movies or listen to music means longer exposure to the hazards of headphones and the danger of prolonged exposure to loud sounds.

Where the iTouch and iPhone headphones are designed to be convenient to carry with you the iPad’s space savings and increased price makes bigger, more comfortable headphones an attractive accessory. Which means many iPad users could be using more efficient (louder) headphones for longer periods of time increasing the risk of developing Noise Induced Hearing Loss.

Hearing Loss Caused by Golf!?!

Golfers have a new threat out on the course. Players using the current generation of thin-faced titanium drivers should consider wearing ear plugs, experts advise.
A recent case in the British Medical Journal revealed that ear specialists suspect the “sonic boom” the metal club head makes when it strikes the ball damaged the hearing of a 55-year-old golfer they treated.

The golfer had been playing with a King Cobra LD titanium club three times a week for 18 months and commented that the noise of the club hitting the ball was “like a gun going off”.

Physicians at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital carried out tests on the golfer after he attended their clinic with unexplained tinnitus and reduced hearing in his right ear.

The tests confirmed that his hearing problems were typical of those seen with exposure to loud noises.

The Physicians decided to recruit a professional golfer to hit shots with six thin-faced titanium clubs from manufacturers such as King Cobra, Callaway, Nike and Mizuno.

All produced a louder noise than standard thicker stainless steel drivers.

The worst offender was the Ping G10 at over 130 decibels.

The Physicians said wearing earplugs would solve the problem, but said players use the noise as feedback to assess how they are playing and how well their equipment is performing. “So it might not work for all.”

If There Was No Demand There Would Be No Supply

I don’t endorse this product (or believe it works) but it points to a rise in demand for relief for a condition caused by Noise Induced Hearing Loss. I keep hearing them run commercials on Sirius satellite radio so I checked out their web page. It doesn’t offer much info about their “unique homeopathic formula using proven and effective ingredients to provide you with a safe and natural alternative to prescription medications.”

With the numbers of cases of tinnitus skyrocketing each year there will likely be more products offering little help to a growing problem in the future. Unfortunately the best solution for the problem is prevention.

Inner ear hair cells, magnification: x21,000

http://www.popsci.com/node/36702
“Inner ear hair cells. Colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of sensory hair cells from the organ of corti, in the cochlea of the inner ear. These cells are surrounded by a fluid called the endolymph. As sound enters the ear it causes waves to form in the endolymph, which in turn cause these hairs to move. The movement is converted into an electrical signal, which is passed to the brain. The V-shaped arrangement of hairs lies on the top of a single cell. Magnification: x21,000 when printed 10cm wide.”
From Popular Science

Happy 8th Birthday iPod!

Today is the iPod’s 8th birthday. In 8 years we have moved from click-wheel to touch screen, dedicated media player to multi-purposed small computer. The days of the iPod my be numbered as products like the Touch and iPhone take over but it’s hard to think they’ll have the same lasting impact on music as the iPod has had over the last 8 years.

The EU’s New MP3 Player Policy

“The European Commission’s new policy will require iPods and other MP3 players to have a default maximum volume of 80 decibels. That’s considered a “very loud” level by most sound rankings; anything above that mark can be potentially dangerous. Presently, most MP3 players go as loud as 115 to 125 decibels.”

http://www.pcworld.com/article/172748/can_you_hear_me_now_ipod_volume_restrictions_on_the_way.html

Volume-limiting headphones for kids

Here is a good idea, MyPhones uses a built-in, always-on sound-control circuit to cap peak volume levels at 85 decibels. Saving kids from the risk of exposure to dangerous levels of volume. This product isn’t a substitution to educating kids about the hazards of noise induced hearing loss but they offer a welcome level of prevention that could and should be a parental control feature on devices like iPods. It’s also good because they give parents a starting point to talk to their children about why limiting volume and prolonged exposure to noise is a good idea.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/myphones