The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

economist sunsuntribune technology saturday feb u 2006 it by teresa latchford staff writer if youre sitting on a bus and everyone is humming along to tunes belting out of your personal music device the volume is way too loud it has been 26 years since sony invented the walk man a device that has mor- phed into portable compact disc players ipods and mp3 players these have become nothing less than a necessi ty to most young people but at what cost your hearing experts warn 1 have heard that it may affect my hearing in the future i am a little concerned but not enough to change giancarlo difeo personal trainer but even being told of potential side effects wont stop users like persechini fitness personal trainer giancarlo difeo from pumping up the volume i have heard that it may affect my hearing in the future he said i am a little concerned but not enough to change when mr difeo is doing homework oh a break or t working out he is immerses himself in the world of alter native music music stimulates his thought process and increases his level of con centration he added things flow and come to me easier when i am lis tening to music he explained with an ear bud still sitting in his left ear being able to tailor his own music selection is also an attraction to the ipod plus it helps motivate him during a workout despite research people tend not to heed warnings the inner workings of an ear longterm use at high vol umes can lead to deafness said hank victor audibio gist at the upper canada hearing and speech centre look at what people know about smoking and there are still hordes of peo ple whosmoke he said heres how these devices affect the ear air pressure creates a wave of sound as it enters the outer ear the waves travel through the ear qanal striking the ear drum and then entering the middle ear v three tiny bones then move within the ear trans lating the vibrations of the sound to the inner ear where an electrical impulse is created to send a message to the brain and a sound is heard the audiologist explained the inner ear is where the damage will occur mr victor said initially it will affect a persons ability to hear high er frequency sounds since ear buds and head phones concentrate sound 85 the industrial standard of a safe noise level before causing permanent hear ing loss is 85 decibels a unit expressing the power of electrical signals or intensity of sound for eight hours every increase of sound by three- decibels reduces me duration of time you can listen by half before hearing damage occurs for example if the noise level increases from 85 to 88 only four hours of expo sure would be safe personal music devices coupled with some ear phones can produce sound levels up to 115 decibels at maximum volume causing permanent hearing loss after being exposed for less than one minute because they are placed directly in or close to the ear a lower listening vol ume is recommended a good rule of thumb is to set the volume on your device no higher than half temporary dullness of hearing or a slight ringing in the ears means the music is too loud in 10 to 12 hours your hearing seems to go back to normal but it never goes back to the way it was and over the years that perma nent damage will add up he said your ears will get old before their time there is no surgery or medication to reverse noiseinduced hearing loss so personal music devices are very much user beware he said decibel levels leaves rustling soft whisper ordinary speech air conditioner blender noisy restaurant busy traffic alarm clock passing truck screaming child motorcycle car horn live rock music jet engine airraid siren rocket launching 10 30 6065 6075 6585 7075 7585 80 70100 90115 100 110 90130 120140 140 180 ww w a s h grove s pa c o m all tmttlttmmm bring in this coupon to receive a complimentary consultation and 20 discount on your laser treatments 6633 hwy 7 suite 304 markham southwest corner of hwy 7 9th line tel 905201 0343