Soundtrack to life is nice, not worth deafness

Walking down Fifth Avenue, the average Pitt student is likely to hear a multitude of sounds:… Walking down Fifth Avenue, the average Pitt student is likely to hear a multitude of sounds: the roar of traffic, the quick footsteps of hundreds of students late to classes or seeking solace from the weather, the blended noises of chatter and gossip, even the occasional “Oh God, Oh God, I just failed that test!” Unless, of course, this student is one of the 22 million – and growing – iPod-adorned individuals who, by some freakish twist of social selection, have become permanently fused to those oh-so-cool white earbuds. In that case, all they hear is Eminem screaming about how he hates himself, his wife, the media, the world, etc.

An MTV-Harvard research study suggests that a majority of lucky iPod owners are on the fast track to Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, or NIHL. The high volume at which most iPods are played and the direct transmission of sound via the earbuds are a direct assault of the auditory components.

According to the Royal National Institute of Deaf People, hearing is endangered at around 80 decibels. To put this in perspective, busy streets – like Fifth or Forbes avenues – are ranked at 70 decibels. In contrast, an airplane taking off is measured at 110 decibels. Most mp3 players, iPod included, are capable of delivering 105 decibels. Furthermore, earbuds are capable of magnifying the sound to six to nine times the original volume. Unlike the muff-type headphones, which rest outside the outer ear and dissipate some noise into the air, earbuds bypass the outer ear and rest directly inside, inches away from the eardrum and sensitive hair cells that convey auditory signal.

I don’t know the exact numbers on how many people play their music “too loud.” All I really need to do is walk down Fifth or get on an elevator to get a rough idea; if I’m on an elevator and I can deduce the artist and song title, you’re probably playing it too loud. If I’m walking behind you and I could sing the next verse of your song, it’s probably too loud – and definitely very annoying. If I can go up behind some girl and say, “Hey, I love Coldplay, too,” she’s probably playing it too loud, although saying that might score me some points. Or make me look like a Facebook stalker. I don’t know.

The point is, at a decibel level of 110-120, hearing loss can occur in as little as 75 minutes. The official iPod Nano Web site boasts that the Nano, “holds up to three day’s worth of music-[and] plays for up to 14 hours between battery charges.” There is no longer any need to change tapes, CDs or batteries and, accordingly, users have no incentive to limit their audio consumption. Keep in mind that the iPod Nano has a mere 4 gigabyte hard drive; the regular iPod can hold up to 60 gigabytes – 15,000 songs, which at 3.5 minutes each, could play for 14 days straight.

Brian J. Fligor, director of diagnostic audiology at the Children’s Hospital in Boston suggests the “60 percent, 60 minutes” rule. Spend no more than 60 minutes a day listening to your iPod and set your volume to less than 60 percent of the maximum. Or, buy noise-canceling headphones so your ears don’t have to compete with external noises. They might be more expensive, but after spending a small fortune on the iPod itself, and in the interest of health and safety, noise-canceling headphones are a good investment. At home or at your desk, you can use speakers instead.

In moderation and with proper precautions, an iPod-esque gadget is no more harmful than any other toy. But when you jam the earbuds deep into your ears and crank it up on your three-minute walk to and from class, during class, during meals, while talking to friends, reading, doing homework, playing video games, exercising and going to the bathroom, then it’s a problem. With constant, extended use, the sound-detecting hair cells in your cochlea are destroyed. You lose the ability to hear, imperceptibly at first, until finally the world around you becomes tinny, muffled and muted and you join the ever-swelling ranks of the one in eight deaf young adults.

Ultimately the iPod is a piece of entertainment, not a newborn child. Leave it at home sometimes and give your ears and mind a break. Instead, think, relax, chat with friends, consolidate, imagine, appreciate, daydream or just blank out. Just be careful if you blank out on Fifth or Forbes: Those buses stop for no one.

Ravi is neither a Facebook stalker nor an iPod wearer. In fact, he is a Luddite. You can e-mail him at rrp10@pitt.edu, but he probably won’t respond.