On August 9th, 2006, Chengdu Evening News reported an article entitled "Teenagers addicted to MP3 cause deafness-at present, more than 40% of sudden deafness patients in our city are students", which caught my attention. MP3 can also make people deaf, which puzzles me. Will MP3 endanger people's health? What does it harm people's health for? Is there any way to prevent it? So I started this research.
MP3, the size of a business card, is easy to carry. It is not only the best companion for office workers to relax, but also the new favorite of students. According to the survey, 75 million MP3 players were bought in the world last year. Moreover, related products are constantly innovating and changing, making music everywhere. In life, every electronic product you can think of can sing notes at any time. In the face of music, you enjoy it. However, you are not tired, but your ears are tired. While enjoying music is becoming more and more convenient, you may gradually fall into a silent crisis.
At present, more than 40% of sudden deafness patients in our city are students at school! Xiao Jing, a junior in Grade Two, has recently fallen in love with MP3. When she went to the hospital for examination, she found that her hearing was 40 decibels lower than that of ordinary people! According to the information from many hospitals in our city, compared with the situation that middle-aged and elderly people have multiple deafness in the past, more than 40% of the patients are students at present, especially those who come to see a doctor before the start of school and at the beginning of holidays, most of them are "earphone family" hearing impairment, and MP3 is the most widely affected, and some patients are serious enough to cause deafness. According to Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, digital music players (MP3 players) are becoming more and more popular. Many teenagers leave their mobile phones at home, and the volume is quite loud, which damages their hearing over time. The latest research in Britain shows that teenagers who listen to MP3 every day are likely to lose their hearing as early as their forties, while the average person's hearing will deteriorate to their sixties and seventies.
According to a national sample survey conducted by British charity British Deafness Research, about1Britons aged 6 to 34 use MP3 for 28 hours a week on average. Among the people aged 16 to 24, more than half of them listen to MP3 for more than 1 hour every day, and nearly 20% listen to MP3 for more than 2 1 hour every week. Among them, 68% don't notice that loud concerts will permanently damage their hearing. Of the 65,438+0,000 respondents, more than 65,438+0/3 have slight hearing impairment because of the high pitch of music. Michael, director-general of British Deafness Research, warned: "At this rate, today's young people will start to be deaf 30 years earlier than their parents."
There are two main reasons: the volume of 1. Wearing MP3 headphones.
Volume 1. MP3 file
Under normal circumstances, when the volume heard by human ears reaches 100 decibel, it will cause irreversible hearing damage for a long time; When the volume is as high as 1 10 dB, it is enough to kill the hair cells in the inner ear of human body, and even cause hearing loss in severe cases. How loud is the MP3 player?
Volume comparison (decibel)
Maximum volume of MP3 player: 120 dB
Aircraft takeoff: 120 dB
Play MP3 loudly:112db.
Take-off of propeller plane:110dB
Electric drill sound: 100 dB
Noisy bar: 90 decibels
Noisy office: 80 decibels
Urban area: 70 decibels
Busy shops: 60 decibels
General conversation: 50 decibels
Quiet dialogue: 30 decibels
Whisper: 20 decibels
Deciduous leaves return to their roots: 10 point
In fact, any sound above 85 decibels will cause hearing damage, because this damage depends not only on the size of the sound, but also on the length of time we have been exposed to it. 90 decibels for 8 hours a day is enough to cause gradual and irreversible hearing damage.
When the volume increases by 5 decibels, the safe listening volume will be reduced by half every day until it reaches 105 decibels. At this volume, listening to 15 minutes every day will damage your hearing. 105 decibel level is equivalent to a high-pitched rock concert. Therefore, every time you go to the stadium to listen to a rock concert, you take another step towards deafness. If you think you have "gotten used to" a certain volume, it only means that you are slightly deaf, but this will not prevent you from further hearing loss at this volume. The nerves in the ear are not more persistent because of constant vibration, they just keep dying.
150 dB is equivalent to the muzzle volume of a military rifle. If the gun is aimed directly at your ear when shooting, it will be enough to break the ossicle of the middle ear, thus making you deaf immediately. Many soldiers wear earplugs on the battlefield.
Through the comparison of the above volume, we can easily see that when we listen to MP3 loudly, it is very harmful to our hearing. In addition, many people who listen to MP3 like listening for a long time, which will do more harm to their hearing! According to the guidance of the British Ministry of Health and Safety, the sound level above 105 dB will cause permanent hearing damage, but the maximum volume of many MP3 players on the market is as high as 120 dB, which is equivalent to an ambulance alarm. The organization suggested "60.60" index, that is, the volume should not exceed 60% of the maximum MP3 volume as far as possible, and continuous listening should not exceed 60 minutes.
Step 2 wear headphones
Headphones are also the direct "killer" of listening.
Some experts pointed out that in addition to listening to MP3 for a long time, improper wearing of headphones is also the main cause of hearing loss. "Ordinary MP3 earplugs inserted directly into the ear hole can increase the sound signal by 9 decibels, which will cause damage to the eardrum after a long time."
In the market, in order to pursue strong and low frequencies, many earphones adopt the design of flute tube bass resonance and sound leakage prevention, and match the shape of earplugs with the shape of ears, so that earplugs are close to the ear holes and directly use the ear canal of ears. Experts explained that technically, such a design can certainly hear more powerful music, but the damage it brings to the ears is extremely serious. Short-term use, because the human body has repair function, the impact is not great. But long-term use will undoubtedly cause serious hearing damage.
Now, in order to cater to the preferences of domestic consumers, some manufacturers have introduced so-called "ultra-bass" earplugs, which use a convex membrane to concentrate sound energy on the ear hole to increase the low-frequency effect. Using these earplugs will undoubtedly cause more serious injuries.
Using headphones for a long time will cause damage to the eardrum, but you can pay attention to the following points:
1, the use time should not be too long, generally keep it at about 30 minutes to 40 minutes, and then listen after a break.
Don't speak too loudly, as long as you can hear yourself.
3. Try not to use earplug type. Ear-hanging and wrap-around are recommended.
In fact, MP3 is not only harmful to our hearing. Some scientific research results also show that high volume for a long time will also damage people's vision. Because there is a subtle and complicated internal connection between the nervous system of the ear and the eye, in the environment of high decibel noise, human eyes are slow to respond to the symmetrical balance of moving objects, and those who are seriously damaged may even cause permanent response failure.
Many young friends like music very much, and they also like to enjoy music with walkman. The popularity of MP3 makes many friends find the carrier of music, but dear friends, we should pay attention to our health while enjoying music!
Since listening to MP3 is harmful to hearing and eyesight, can we listen to the walkman? Some students may ask questions. In fact, just like listening to MP3, the size of the headphones we use when listening to the walkman and the sound we use when listening to the walkman will affect our hearing and vision to varying degrees, so listening to the walkman will also have a certain impact on our health!
Preventive measures:
Based on the above situation, we put forward the following suggestions:
1. Listen less or not to MP3.
2. It is best to control the volume of listening to MP3 at 60% of the highest volume of MP3.
3. Listen to MP3 for less than 60 minutes.
4. When using MP3, it is best to choose ear-hanging headphones and surround headphones.
5. Don't listen to MP3 in noisy environment.
Students, for your own health, listen to MP3 less!