Short-term auditory effects of listening to an MP3 player.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the output levels of a commercially available MPEG layer-3 (MP3) player and to evaluate changes in hearing after 1 hour of listening to the MP3 player.


METHODS
First, A-weighted sound pressure levels (measured in decibels [dBA]) for 1 hour of pop-rock music on an MP3 player were measured on a head and torso simulator. Second, after participants listened to 1 hour of pop-rock music using an MP3 player, changes in hearing were evaluated with pure-tone audiometry, transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions, and distortion product otoacoustic emissions.


METHODS
Twenty-one participants were exposed to pop-rock music in 6 different sessions using 2 types of headphones at multiple preset gain settings of the MP3 player.


METHODS
Output levels of an MP3 player and temporary threshold and emission shifts after 1 hour of listening.


RESULTS
The output levels at the full gain setting were 97.36 dBA and 102.56 dBA for the supra-aural headphones and stock earbuds, respectively. In the noise exposure group, significant changes in hearing thresholds and transient-evoked otoacoustic emission amplitudes were found between preexposure and postexposure measurements. However, this pattern was not seen for distortion product otoacoustic emission amplitudes. Significant differences in the incidence of significant threshold or emission shifts were observed between almost every session of the noise exposure group compared with the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
Temporary changes in hearing sensitivity measured by audiometry and otoacoustic emissions indicate the potential harmful effects of listening to an MP3 player. Further research is needed to evaluate the long-term risk of cumulative noise exposure on the auditory system of adolescents and adults.
Keppler
Hannah
H
Ear, Nose, and Throat Department, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. hannah.keppler@ugent.be
Dhooge
Ingeborg
I
Maes
Leen
L
D'haenens
Wendy
W
Bockstael
Annelies
A
Philips
Birgit
B
Swinnen
Freya
F
Vinck
Bart
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D055539:MP3-Player; D008297:Male; D009146:Music