Do you often listen to music at loud volumes (音量)? You should know that this habit is bad for your hearing, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Over 1,000,000,000 young people are at risk of hearing loss because of listening to loud noise for long periods of time, said WHO. Listening to music or watching a TV show at loud volumes can harm your hearing.
The United Nations has standards for safe listening. It is not safe to listen to sounds that are louder than 85 decibels (dB,分贝) for eight hours or 100 dB for 15 minutes. The sound of a busy road is about 85 dB and the sound of a rock concert can be about 100 dB.
Loud noise is bad for the inner ear (内耳). Most of us are born with about 16,000 hair cells (听毛细胞) in our inner ears. These cells detect (探测) sounds. However, listening to loud noise for a long time can make these cells work too hard and cause some of them to die. This is what causes hearing loss.
Some people might think that their music isn't all that loud. But this can depend on where you are. For example, if you are in a noisy place like the subway, you might turn up your music too loud without realizing it. Later, when you listen to it at the same volume in a quiet place, you might feel uncomfortable.
WHO said the "safe level" for most sound is below 80 decibels for up to 40 hours a week. Alevel of 80 decibels is similar to the noise of a subway.
