Millions of youngsters across Europe could suffer permanent hearing loss after five years if they listen to MP3 players at too high a volume for more than five hours a week, EU scientists warned Monday.

(Am sure that would track nicely with the North American market would look -- and sound --like ...)

The scientists' study, requested by the European Commission, attacked the concept of "leisure noise," saying children and teenagers should be protected from increasingly high sound levels -- with loud mobile phones also coming in for criticism.

There has been increasing concern about exposure from the new generation of personal music players which can reproduce sounds at very high volumes without loss of quality, noted the study.

Risk for hearing damage depends on sound level and exposure time. More and more young people were exposed to the significant threat that leisure noise posed to hearing.

Commission experts estimate that between 50 and 100 million people listen to portable music players on a daily basis.

If they listened for only five hours a week at more than 89 decibels, they would already exceed EU limits for noise allowed in the workplace, they said. But if they listened for longer periods, they risked permanent hearing loss after five years. 

More at the New York Times.

And thanks to Kid's Health for the ear shot.