iDeaf? 90% Of City Dwellers Getting Harmful Level Of Audio Exposure

A new study suggests that 90% of city dwellers are getting a harmful level of audio exposure, mostly through MP3 players like the iPod.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, found that 1 in 10 transit users had noise exposures above the recommended limits simply by using public transit.

Then researchers estimated the total annual exposure from all sources and found that 90 percent of transit users and 87 percent of nonusers exceeded recommended audio exposure limits. This came mostly from MP3 and stereo usage.

University of Michigan researcher Rick Neitzel, who co-authored the study, described it as a “serious” problem. He continued, “There aren’t really any other experiences where we would tolerate having nine out of 10 people exposed at a level we know is hazardous. We certainly wouldn’t tolerate this with another agent, such as something that caused cancer or chronic disease. Yet for some reason we do for noise.”