Teens risk going deaf from music players

PEOPLE listening to loud music on music players or mobile phones for an hour a day over five years are risking permanent deafness.

An EU conference was told yesterday that up to one in 10 of young listeners risk permanent hearing loss by their mid-20s as the volume of their personal MP3 player is too high.

The current safety standard is 100dB but some players have maximum volumes of 120dB, as loud as an airplane taking off.