Do you often listen to music at loud volumes (音量)? Over one billion (十亿) young people are at risk of hearing loss (失聪) because of listening to loud noise for long periods of time. Listening to music or watching a TV show at loud volumes is harmful to 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 harmful to the inner ears (内耳). Most of us are born with about 16,000 hair cell (听毛细胞) in our inner ears. 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.
The World Health Organization said the "safe level" for most sounds is below 80 dB for up to 40 hours a week. A level of 80 dB is roughly equal to (大约相当于) the noise of a subway.
