My sister always gave me an irritated nudge when we were younger on road trips because she could hear the music blasting from my headphones on her side of the car. I’m sure I’m not the only one who's been listening to music a bit too loudly. Maybe you’ve been ignoring the people who stare at you across the subway who can clearly hear your jams or the alarm bells from your parents telling you the constant beats could be harmful to your eardrums. New research echoes the concerns and suggests that over 1 billion young adults and adolescents globally may be at risk for hearing loss because of their personal listening devices (PLDs), or headphones, or for attending entertainment venues like concerts.
“This overexposure that a lot of people clearly are engaging in can have detrimental effects on their health,” Dr. Lauren Dillard, author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at the Medical University of South Carolina, tells Fortune, and that exposure to loud sounds over time may lead to hearing loss down the road.
