Personal music players: An emerging health risk behavior

Abstract

Introduction: An irresponsible use of personal music players has been considered as an emerging health risk behavior. Aim: To determine output profiles of different personal music players, considering different phone types and different volume/output control levels, thus estimating exposure limits by noise-induced hearing loss guidelines. Material and methods: Descriptive study. We evaluated sound pressure outputs within an audiometric silent chamber using a standardized music sample in 3 types of players and 2 types of phones at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of maximum output. Results: The peak output pressure was 119 dB SPL (A). There were significant differences between players. Supra-ear phones steadily reduced about 12 dB of output pressure, regardless of the device or volume level selected. Under 50% of maximum output no player reached one noise-dose (equivalent to 85 dB at 8 hours, maximum noise exposure permitted in many guidelines) within 24 hrs. At 75% of maximum output one noise-dose was reached up to 1.9 hours. At 100% of output it was achieved as short as in 4.5 minutes. Discussions: Personal music players can emit high sound pressures considered risky by noise-induced hearing loss standards. Apparently the use of supra-ear headphones could be beneficial, but ultimately the potential acoustic damage depends on the intensity/output level chosen by the user and the usage time. We hope this work will help raise awareness about this emerging health risk behavior.